I know I'm technically about 5 years too late to watching this, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that I finished, yeah? Now, this review will not be like some of the other reviews in this section. I LOVED this show, so I won't be agreeing with the rest of the peanut gallery in regards to this show. Like always, I did NOT feel the same way the majority of the K-Drama fandom felt about this show. Not at all, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I do want to start off by acknowledging the elephant in the room here - usually I only find myself salivating and obsessing over the female leads in this story. However, Ha Ru (Rowoon) is absolutely positively divine. The show did such a great job at creating the buildup to revealing and introducing his character to the audience. The first time I saw him, my mouth dropped. I was absolutely shooketh. I was stunned by how absolutely beautiful this man is. I've never been blown away by any of the male leads in most K-Dramas and that's something I've had to deal with for quite some time and I was fine with it. The entire time I watched this - that was the only thing going through my mind. I was awestruck by his beauty. Don't get me wrong. The actress that plays Dan Oh is adorable too. They were both a very good-looking couple. However, I'm now in love with Rowoon so there's that. Now, onto the review.

While I will agree with some fans about the story not making sense, I don't care enough to stress about it. I'm one of those annoying fans who doesn't give a fuck about a shoddy plot, just as long as the characters are likable and I get my romance. Yes, I'm THAT fan. The plot could fall apart in 5 episodes and be held together by a single piece of thread for the remainder of the show and it won't matter if those characters are hitting all of the right beats and tugging on my heartstrings in the way that I enjoy. I do believe this story lasted far longer than it should, but that's always been a pet peeve of mine regarding most of these dramas. Most dramas don't need more than a certain number of episodes to tell the story. In that way, I do feel as if the writers dragged certain things out that they definitely shouldn't have, but what can you do? The pacing is the issue in that regard. Also, having two love triangles in the same show means that I am entitled to some sort of financial compensation for emotional damages. Down with love triangles! It's not 2008 anymore.

Now, The Writer. The hand wavy God-like figure writing the comic within the show. I did have an issue with this part because I honestly thought that Ha Ru was The Writer before they revealed that he wasn't. I feel that may have been far more interesting. Ha Ru is The Writer who somehow ended up in his own book. Ha Ru, The Writer, jumps through that weird black hole to get in and get out of that make-believe, fictional world. That's what I initially theorized but that's not what happened. I don't like the fact that we never found out who The Writer was either. I did like the subtle meta digs the characters would take at The Writer though. I found that kind of funny. I never saw Boys Over Flowers (?), so I don't understand that reference. Sorry!

Let's tackle my favorite aspect of this show now, shall we? The lead couple sunk their claws into me and they never let go. These two have my heart and will always have my heart honestly, because they were just that perfect. They had the right balance of angst and happiness. I did not care for the long, drawn-out love triangle though. I'm past the age where love triangles interest me so I would have preferred that Dan Oh and Ha Ru's relationship woes were purely about fighting their predestined fate instead of fighting with Baek Kyung (just wait for it because I have a LOT to say about him). I know some people had an issue with Ha Ru seemingly only existing for Dan Oh, and I don't see the issue. Most men need to learn how to stand there, shut up, and look pretty sometimes. It's a necessity, if you ask me. Plus, that's a favorite trope of mine - man only existing to serve, worship, and protect his female love interest. Again, what is the issue here? People kept saying that Dan Oh's journey was minimized to simply loving Ha Ru, but it makes sense. For all intents and purposes, Dan Oh is a teenage girl. What did people really think her priorities would lie? Have you ever actually talked to a teenager in high school? Their priorities are mostly about what they're feeling right now in that very moment. The attention span is short.

With all of that being said, let me drag Baek Kyung for a minute. I did NOT like him at all. By the end of the show, I still didn't care for him. I didn't pity him either. The only feeling I had by the end of the show was wondering whether he fixed what he screwed up because he thought it was the right thing or if he did it because his guilty conscience started to eat him up inside? That's where my mind went, because I didn't buy his so-called redemption arc. The writers (all the Baek Kyung lovers should blame them for sure) spent too much time on him being the antagonist and not enough time actually developing a believable redemption for me to buy it. I didn't buy it. Yes, he fixed it but it was AFTER he fucked it up. What he did was the bare minimum. He killed the girl he claimed to have true feelings for and suddenly realized that forcing someone to be with you when they don't want to be and removing their agency and free will is wrong. Finally! He realized this in the fourth fucking quarter! You realized this in the penultimate episode? Wow. We can blame The Writer for making him a jackass on the stage. But what's his excuse for him being an asshole in the shadow? What was the reason? He treated Dan Oh like crap the entire time, both on stage and in the shadow. But you expect me to believe he truly had feelings for her? He only started to feel something for her once he realized that she started to have a mind of her own. For the longest time, he kept trying to convince her (and Ha Ru) that her on-stage self was the real her when it wasn't. Baek Kyung never liked the real Dan Oh. He liked the girl who constantly chased him after he spit in her face (metaphorically speaking) and humiliated her in front of their peers every single day.

I didn't like the Dried Squid Fairy; I couldn't stand him. The boot licker in him agitated me. Why are you so adamant about following the rules and allowing things to happen to you without attempting to change them? It was clear The Writer lacked creativity, so who cares if you change things here and there? The Writer didn't have enough creativity and imagination to walk outside of their own front yard. Who cares? Burn it all down! Buck the system and stand up for something for once in your miserable life.

Now, I LOVED Lee Do Hwa! After the main two characters, he was my favorite. I enjoyed his character so much. I hate that he didn't get his happy ending but I knew it wouldn't be possible. Yoo Ja and Nam Joo were ... something. Yoo Ja became an interesting person to watch and I liked her. Nam Joo was there, I guess?

Okay, are you still here? Good! You get a cookie. Would I recommend it? Yes! Don't listen to the naysayers. If you want to watch it, watch it. Decide how you feel for yourself. I would definitely rewatch certain episodes again; I wouldn't rewatch the whole thing because there's just too many episodes but definitely some of my favorite episodes now and then.