Annoying!

After the trailer, I was really looking forward to the movie. But when I watched the movie, I had the impression of seeing a completely different movie. The trailer looked cool and like a good sci-fi movie. The movie then turned out to be totally silly. A movie basically consists of a story, not a string of scenes. If a screenwriter, and here there were two writers involved, doesn't know that, then he's not a good screenwriter and should look for something else to do.
The movie owes many of its good reviews to the well-known and popular actors. How would the audience judge the movie without these familiar faces? I know the actors of the protagonists from other movies and series and I regret to say that their performance was far below their potential. Kim Woo Bin in particular delivered an over-the-top, inappropriate, and very shallow performance. I was sad to see Kim Tae Ri in this nonsense.
If I wanted to list all the negative things I noticed in this movie, I would have to write a very thick book. But the movie is not worth that time! The film is not even worth the time you have to spend to watch it!
So I say to all those who have not seen it yet: Don't watch it! I can't recommend it!
Oh yes, and I will definitely not watch the second part, it would be a pity to waste the time!

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Too bad

The worst series I've seen so far - and I'm not picky!

It was the first time I started to hate some characters. Most of all the immature mean and incompetent character Nam Do San, played perfectly by Nam Joo Hyuk. I will try not to see another show with him.

I was disappointed in Seo Dal Mi for falling for him.

And disappointed in Han Ji Pyung for putting up with it all. But he didn't have a chance because the script hated him. Nevertheless Kim Seon Ho acted very sensitively.

The most supporting characters had to suffer so that Nam Do could get San Seo Dal Mi! Especially poor old grandmother.

Obviously, the screenwriter had no idea about people or startups. It's like a robot writing about love and apple pie!
Too bad.

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Where is Marty McFly?

When I read the synopsis for this show, I was looking forward to a fun time travel. But the result was more than disappointing. In fact, given the high score for this show, I wonder if swarm intelligence has any real validity. Apparently, no one noticed the similarity at the end to "Back to the Future" either.
Having appreciated Kwon Hye Joo's work on Hi Bye, Mama! (2020), I was looking forward to Go Back Couple. However, the sensitivity he showed in Hi Bye, Mama! was completely absent in Go Back Couple. There was no explanation for the time travel and the character development of the protagonists was also poor. Even the secondary characters were template-like and superficial.
The message that money alone is the only option to be happy together is also debatable. Other couples manage to get by with little money. But Ma Jin Joo and Choi Ban Do lack depth of character, their problems, misunderstandings and anger at each other could have been solved without time travel.
But obviously this show is not about emotional depth, but about superficial and skechy scenes that are supposed to be funny. So the protagonists don't go through any development either, but simply throw their intentions from the first half out the window and suddenly behave completely opposite. Yet the initial situation offered a lot of new paths and developments.
Go Back Couple is just teeming with logic flaws and awkward twists. The characters were flat and lacked appeal. The cast was no help there either - except for Kim Mi Kyung.
From the beginning everything was predictable, there was no surprise in the plot except that everything was put forward so naively. However, the show seems to have found its audience.
After watching quite a few Korean series, I notice that often the female characters in particular are portrayed as very strong and independent in the first half of a season - only to suddenly buckle and submit from the second half on. As if one would want to send the message to a woman: Hey, this is how you are, strong, brave, independent - but that's wrong, you have to be a man's wife, cuddly, polite and demure, obedient, to be happy. What kind of message is that? Of course, there are some shows that don't adhere to this conservative thinking. Park Hae Young did not let her Lee Ji An in My Mister fall into this trap.
Strong Characters whose actions are justified and understandable should not be expected on Go Back Couple. The characters in this show remain jokes without depth. Like this whole show, you can quickly forget - no, you have to quickly forget!

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Chaotic and confused

The show felt like the scriptwriter started with a clear concept and then changed her mind midway through. So the show became more and more chaotic and confused. The backstories of the protagonists only made it worse. Apparently, the scriptwriter completely lost the story.

Not to mention all the illogical stuff! For example, when Gae Dong starts her training to become a noblewoman, she can't eat with chopsticks. A few episodes later, Kim Soo takes her to her old house and says, "This is where we ate in the past, look, there are still YOUR chopsticks!"

It was all too much, from the look of the boys to the loud and over-the-top acting of Gong Seung Yeon.

I was looking forward to the show, bravely held out until the end, but unfortunately can't recommend it.

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Could have been better

To my regret, in my opinion, some points were not right with this show. The story is quite promising, but after only a few episodes it is clear that the script itself does not know where it wants to go. The story lacks the necessary stringency to consistently honour the great drama of the events.
Supposedly, a crucial event could not be corrected, and no one questioned this statement. Well, that is the internal logic in the story - but after the younger self of Ban Ha-Ni knows the future and understands why the older Ban Ha-Ni had mourned and sunk into depression for 20 years, and she is back in the past to live her life again, nothing changes about the future in the end. The young Ban Ha-Ni's new experiences, knowledge and insights have apparently not changed anything about the old Ban Ha-Ni's personality! Impossible! I think with an initial story like that, you can't focus on one detail and not pay attention to everything else.
As for the choice of actors, unfortunately the chemistry between the couples was not right. In my opinion they are not a good match. Sometimes I thought the actress of a supporting role was a better match for the lead actor. Also I really wanted to witness that, like in the well-known fairy tale, the ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan in the end. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

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Masochistic Do-Ran

I watched this show to get an another perspective into Korean society. At first glance, everything about this show was old-fashioned. Both the set and even more so the behavior of the characters shows little modern approach. However, it is possible that this show is intended precisely for a conservative audience. But this show managed to portray the impression of a social prison.
There is a strict power imbalance within the family, where the older ones are allowed to boss around the younger ones, bully them and even beat them. The children and the in-laws have the duty to sacrifice themselves.
And even the male ex-partners have rights to commit crimes against the women without the fear of punishment. They are allowed to stalk, beat, blackmail and kidnap them. This is a terrible picture of a society! But as I said, probably this show was made for the very conservative part of the Asian society (and the equally conservative viewer of the Western society). Whereby I don't know if the makers wanted to warn or just to achieve recognition among affected women.
The main character Do-Ran goes through one humiliating experience after another in 53 episodes, but she always forgives everything, goes back and lets herself be beaten and humiliated again. She is satisfied when she is allowed to serve. She behaves like a masochist. She is an object that the family can use and discard at will. Sexual submission and humiliation within her marriage to Dae-Ryuk is only hinted at.
When finally, after 52 episodes, an independence - socially and financially - is achieved, she allows herself to be persuaded and again submits to her submissive, externally determined role. The script claims that it is all about love. An obvious lie, because love cannot be a prison.
Do-Ran, to my frustration, has fought and allowed herself to be mistreated for absolutely nothing. Do-Ran is a part of society and she thinks it is right how she was treated. She is no better than her tormentors. In the end, I lost my sympathy with her. As a viewer, I was also cheated because the story brought me no development for the better, no hope.
The scriptwriters apparently do not understand any other than the authoritarian behavior they describe. To explain Do-Ran's return to her prison, her opponents suddenly turn into friendly loving people in the last episode.
Not only is the viewer taken for a fool, no, the appalling message of the creators of this show is to brazenly claim that Do-Ran is to blame for her fate and that the others had the right to mistreat her. After all, she is guilty because she is the daughter of a murderer. This is called hereditary guilt.
This drama, intentionally or not, takes a look at the dark side of Korean society. One wonders how big this shadow is. I recommend not to watch this show. If you do, only with a great distance.

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I liked it

I have rarely seen the ratings so varied as they are here for Doona! Reading through the reviews, the bad ratings probably come mainly from young and immature critics who didn't understand the ending (although you can watch a scene multiple times on Netflix) and who wanted the story to develop as they wished. Then we have a lot of psychologists among the viewers and those who can't step outside of their culture. Anyway - I liked Doona! and I liked Bae Suzy's restrained acting, she gave many scenes a deeper meaning with her facial expressions. I was actually prejudiced about seeing another drama with her after the really, really bad "Start-up". But she managed the broken character quite well!

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