I understand what they were going for, but I think it was executed poorly

Where to begin... I was one of those poor souls that was left waiting for 2 years to see the second season, and was also spoiled immediately after the first season about what the ending was going to be, so I thought I would be mentally prepared to have my heart ripped out watching it. I was not.

I understand what Love Alarm was going for. In a dystopian world, almost paralleling today's age of digital dating, it's hard to fall in love organically anymore. We rely on cryptic text messages and online dating profiles to determine who we're supposed to love, instead of relying on our own intuition, our own feelings and heart. Given a shield, she was able to choose who she truly loved without a confusing love Alarm ringing all the time. I think it's important to consider that you can love many people to varying degrees. Since her Love Alarm told her to love Sun Oh, she has no choice but to believe it. But Love Alarm strips them of their freedom to choose who they love, and strips them of their will to fight for someone who doesn't ring yours. So, with that in mind, I understand why they decided that Hae Young was ultimately the person she chose over Sun Oh.

That said... I really disliked the way they went about trying to portray this message. What irked me the VERY most, was Duk Goo. If it was supposed to be a truly organic love between JoJo and Hae Young, then he wouldn't have gotten involved at all. By giving her the shield and the spear, he's essentially playing cupid and fate to get them to fall in love. His reasoning of how it gave her the opportunity to see that she would love Hae Young imo was just stupid. If she was meant to fall in love with Hae Young, she would have. She and Sun Oh would have organically broken up because she was too young/scared/etc... and she would have naturally found comfort in Hae Young and realize that he was the one she truly felt comfortable with.

Frustrations:
- JoJo - girl, why didn't you just tell him you had the shield once you regret it?!
- Sun Oh lost his best friend AND girlfriend at once. I felt like he deserved a better explanation from them.
- I'm sorry, but I saw very little chemistry between Hae Young and JoJo

Pros:
- Sun Oh and JoJo were both broken people, and found comfort in each other, but weren't able to heal each other. That was a powerful message to send.
- I think Yook Jo was a perfect character for Sun Oh. I'm truly happy for her and their ending
- I think Hae Young is a great guy, and I am also happy he got the girl (that his best friend kinda stole from him in the first place lets be real)
- The consistency of the cherry blossoms + red whatever (telephone booth, mailbox, bus shelter) - that's when I knew Hae Young was the one.

All that said, my k-drama heart wished that Sun Oh and JoJo ended up together, and my heart is broken, but I did my best to take my personal attachments out of the bigger picture of this story, and hopefully that will give me the consolation I'll need going forward.

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I'm not sure you'll need my review to tell you already what the whole world has been saying, but in the off chance you do, do yourself a favour and watch CLOY. Join the literal millions of people worldwide who have fallen (hard) for Captain Ri and Se Ri.

After I finished CLOY, I honestly felt a void in my life, and made it my life's mission to convince everyone I knew to watch it. And I succeeded in convincing a lot, and they all loved it. First off, the cast was superb. The leads were incredibly casted (Hyun Bin + Son Ye Jin), and the seconds had an incredible plotline. I felt like the character development was incredible, and I found myself laughing, crying and just swooning throughout the entire series. I'm so so happy that we were given this drama, this will go down for me as one of the greatest.

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A good 1 time watch

I thought this was a pretty good drama. It was tough to acclimatize to the way of filming, with characters sort of breaking the 4th dimension and talking to viewers. However, I think it was cute. I never understood the idea behind what they were filming for, and why they didn't know who was involved etc.. but that's fine. I enjoyed the various messages people had surrounding their idea on dating, romance, and love. It was interesting to watch a seemingly unstable relationship become stable, and stable one quickly deteriorate. I enjoyed all the characters. I thought they were all fun to watch, and I loved the friendship between them. That was heartwarming.

I'll admit it was a very slow start. It took me about 5 episodes to really get into it. I struggled a bit with the last 3 episodes as well. There didn't seem to be a lot of closure surrounding the secondary characters which sucked. Based on the way things ended with Gyung Joon and Rin Yi I felt like there would be a season 2 of sorts? Otherwise that was a very odd ending. There was a lot of their relationship we didn't get to explore. The Minho + Celebrity arc was random as heck for me. I'm a Shawol and all so I'm not complaining, but it was weird.

I did enjoy the style in which they slowly depicted Eun Oh's story. I had a hard time understanding in the beginning what her deal was. It just didn't really make sense why she decided to leave. But as you get to understand the circumstances that lead her to that beach, you really begin to get a feel for what she was going through and thinking at the time. Everything kind of clicks together. I thought that was both heartbreaking and relatable. Who hasn't wanted to just run away after going through all that?

Ji Chang WooK did a fantastic job on his character. I didn't enjoy him in Backstreet Rookie or Melting me Softly, but this was a good role for him. He was charming, witty, and VERY funny. His breakdowns were really well done. I was impressed. There were scenes that definitely made me swoon!

I also thought the PPL was HILARIOUS. The 3 ppl wearing PPL shirts in the pizza shop in the background made me chuckle. Well done.

Finally, BIG ups on the music. Beautiful is all that comes to mind. It went really well with the sort of everyday life scenes, the sort of romantic tension scenes, and the weather ones. I am definitely listening to some of those in the coming days.

I'm not sure I have much else to say. I wouldn't say there's a lot of depth here per-se, but overall I still really enjoyed it.

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Why do you run? For yourself.

I'm writing this as I come off the 16th episode, because I don't want to forget anything, but also might not do this drama justice having not digested everything.

The first episode of this drama was slow and hard to get through for me. I actually stopped halfway and came to the conclusion that this wasn't for me, and there was no way I'd like it. Well, I was wrong. Like many have said, this is a "slice-of-life" drama. It is meant to be slow, because it is meant to showcase the everyday lifestyle of characters, without "drama". It's most definitely not for everyone due to the nature of the pace, but if you're looking for something with more depth, less tropes, and something that makes you feel good, this is a wonderful drama.

Some thoughts:
1. I'm going to start with Ki Seon Gyeom (aka Shi Wan), and how perfectly he fit this role for me. My guy was so, for a lack of better word, strange, from the get-go, that I had no idea what the heck his character was supposed to be. From him though, I understood that you need to love yourself, and that just because someone comes from a different world than you, doesn't mean that they are that much different than you. You can never assume what a person is really like without getting to know them.
2. I love how healthy the relationship is between the ML/FL. Just two people coming together trying to understand each other, and help each other grow into being a better version of themselves. That's the best way I can put it.
3. The humour! I truly laughed out loud at a number of different scenes. The wit and fast paced talking really gets me.
4. The focus on the second lead, without it being a love triangle. I think this was the first time I've ever seen a drama's ending scene (multiple times) on a second lead couple. I was shocked. But thoroughly enjoyed how the spent the second half of the drama flushing out the SL's relationship.
5. I will admit, I continue to have a hard time understanding the relationship between the SL's, and what exactly happened there, but I don't think I'll put too much thought into it, and just let myself decide what the ending was supposed to be.
6. The details. There were so many, but two that I can remember, was at the end when Mi Joo mentioned that her and Seon Gyeom will never 100% understand everything about each other, but they'll do their best to align with each other, and then they cut to the scene of them running at the same pace. I thought that was nice. Also, episode 11 (end), after they watch the short movie (Sleepwalk), they have a really great conversation that touches on a lot. One of which was about things disappearing, wether due to AI, or people just forgetting about it slowly (they mention it was similar to the movie they just watched but I didn't see the correlation, someone enlighten me if I'm wrong). And then you cut to Seon Gyeom walking home, passing by an old video store with faded posters of My Sassy Girl and No. 3, old movies that were once popular, now likely slowly being forgotten as we move forward into the future.

What I ultimately took away, was that everyone going through life, is doing their best to keep going (ie: run on). They're taking things day by day the best way they can. Running, similar to life, sometimes gets real tough, and you'll feel like you'll want to stop, or that you can't make it. But there are always reasons to keep running, the most important one being for yourself. Maybe you'll need to adjust, perhaps take little steps at a time, but ultimately, you gotta keep moving forward. And don't forget that people are cheering for your success. There are people watching over you, and cheering you on even if you can't immediately see them. And, though it may seem sometimes that you're alone in the world, we forget to just look around us and see that we're already surrounded with love. Love comes in many forms, not just familial, but relationships, friendships, un-wanted acquaintance, that dude at the coffee shop. The people that we think who are so far from our reach/world who would never understand us, could very well be the one person who can. There's a lot more detail in these words from the drama, so I don't think I'll ever be able to do it justice. But, I do urge you to watch it if you're interested! I don't think you'll regret it.

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I could ring praises for this drama all day all night.
I've watched this drama twice over now. Once when it first came out in 2012 and just recently in 2020 on Netflix (man, how times have changed.) The first time I watched it I just remember loving it so much. It was funny, it was cute, and it was overall just a happy go-lucky drama. Watching it in 2020 as an adult, made it so much better because of how relatable it was. The nostalgia of their youths was like me. Her obsession with Kpop and dramas was exactly like mine just 8 years ago. What I also loved is how much time they focused on each character, and gave each a well done plot line. There was so much wit in the comedy and just overall made the drama experience well worth it. I highly recommend this one. It's worth your time.

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God I really really wanted to love this drama for so many reasons. Like a lot of others I thought this drama had so much potential and such a great cast! The beginning was great, I loved it. I think I binged the first couple of episodes. But then at some point I lost complete track of the whole point of the story. It started to get messy and repetitive and all around boring. I feel like there was so much SO MUCH potential and so many places that the story could have gone, but it just went nowhere. I finished it out of loyalty but I was real cheesed for the whole second half.

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So, I went into this drama with no real expectations. I didn't hear much hype on it, and I didn't really have any prior knowledge of what it was going to be about, who was in the cast and what the premise of the entire series was. By the ending of the first episode, I remember thinking "Wow, this reminds me a lot of the Reply series, I love how this is written!" Alas, only as I have finished it did I realize it was the same writer. No wonder I loved it! Hospital Playlist is similar to the Reply series in only the best aspects, but also distinct on its own. Some great points:

1. The all around feel-good nature of the drama. There aren't "bad" character or "enemies".
2. The morals and lessons that are taught throughout
3. The character development/interactions between not only the main characters but side ones.
4. The witty and comical bantering between everyone
5. The style in which the writer tries to mislead you into thinking one way and then reveals the underlying truth sometimes not until much much later. Details are important!!

I'm so so excited that Hospital Playlist is getting a second season. I just can't get enough of these characters and I can't wait to see them again soon!

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All time favourite boys over flowers adaptation

I think of all the BOF adaptations, a majority of the community will fall into either the Taiwanese adaptation or the Japanese one. I consider both of them the OG's, before being really popularized by the Korean adaptation.

I will preface, there are some heinous things that were done in the series (the extreme bullying, SA, blackmail etc...), and if this were to come out today, I'd bet my money it would have has some pretty bad backlash. A impoverished student falling for her abuser? No thanks. But, I do give it leeway given it is an adaptation from a manga from 1992.

Despite all of these remakes over the years, (I've watched all of them), I always find myself comparing it to this Japanese version, and also find myself coming back to it time and time again. This one will always hold an incredibly special place in my heart. I found that the casting was perfect, and the acting was incredible. Mao Inoue and Jun Matsumoto are literally living forms of the manga, and their facial expressions are legendary.

It's so easy to fall in love with the leads here, and the chemistry they have on screen is palpable. They make you laugh, they make you cry, and they stay with you forever.

To tie everything together, the OST contains 2 of my all time favourite songs. Legends Ai Otsuka singing Planetarium and Hikaru Utada singing flavour of life which are absolutely beautiful and gut punching songs that continue to remind me of this drama every time I hear them.

Even as we continue to introduce future adaptations to BOF, and as video quality gets better, I think I will still always come back to this version, and live out the love story between them here. At the end of the day, it's a timeless classic, and I don't think that will ever change.

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One of the best storylines I've watched in a long time

I'll start this review with the fact that yes, I think this drama was a very good watch, and definitely worth your time.

This is a story about time travel, between two (seemingly) star crossed lovers. Their love is so intense and cherished, that they do whatever means necessary to find each other and be together again. But in order to do so, there are obstacles they must get through, and questions they need to answer.

I'll start with the only cons I personally found:

1. This is my first TW drama in years. I'm mostly watching K-Drama now. So this may not be a con for others, but I felt like there was a lack of well done cinematography and special effects. I had a big chuckle when I saw the scenes of uninhabited souls staying in that tent like thing.

2. There were some scenes that I found to be a little cringe - ie: the way her body lay on the ground after her accident, Mo Jun Jie's almost possessive nature in some places, the weird AI program thing in the beginning, her asking the doctor about his brother (c'mon irl that'd be totally inappropriate).

That said, I think there are a LOT of pros:

1.. The storyline - if you only need one reason to watch this drama, this should be it. By far one of the best storylines I've seen about time travel. The timeline is consistent, but not obvious, so that you're always aware of what's going on, but also have no idea what's coming next. I had a hard time guessing what was going to happen, and though I guessed a couple things, I was wrong on a lot of them too. I also LOVED the way the drama was edited. Though there were a couple of replayed old memory scenes, most of them were fresh, and/or revealed more information that before. I also enjoyed the separation between the two times.

2. This drama is fast paced - they do not beat around the bush. At 13 eps, I was already excited that it wasn't any longer. They didn't dilly dally when it came to things that needed to be said or done.

3. The versatility of the genres - Although I would 100% call this drama a romance, comedy is a close second, along with a little mystery. I was able to enjoy the multiple facets of the drama - cried my eyes out, swooned, paused to try and figure out what was going to happen next, and just have a good time watching it.

4. The acting - Well done all around, especially for LZQ and HYS.

This was a great re-intro for me to TW drama's, and I'm really glad it was this one. Excellent watch.

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Fun, Realistic and Empowering

Fight For My Way was such a refreshing rom-com drama to watch! I initially watched this for PSJ, but honestly I fell in love with each character.

The premise that sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you expected is such a realistic portrayal of real life, and they depict it really well here in this drama. I truly felt connected to each of the characters and found myself personally cheering them on. I love that throughout the entire series you get to see them struggle and fail, and trying to figure it out. Even though nobody came out drastically changing their life, they still changed it enough to be happy, and that was such a great message to send.

I know some people would disagree, but I personally found the second leads story to be a huge joy to watch. I was incredibly satisfied and felt the empowerment watching Seol Hee dumping Joo Man. At the same time, I found myself empathizing with Joo Man after. I felt like it depicted the frustrations of a long term relationship well.

I have no complaints with the OTP. I really enjoyed her sticking to her guns about breaking up should he continue to fight in the MMA. I also enjoyed their relationship and the time the drama spent on the little moments with them. Their relationship was well depicted and I truly enjoyed watching it unfold.

I will say that I felt the ending to be a bit rushed. From the acceptance of her mother, to their marriage (and him leaving MMA), as well as Hye Ran. I don't feel like we got a ton of closure. But, I think it was a nice way to leave off as they continue to depict that their life is still ongoing.

Loved this drama, would highly recommend it to anyone.

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TLDR: Give it a shot, I think it's definitely worth watching.

From the first episode, I knew I was hooked. It has been so long since I've watched a drama that left me absolutely infuriated and agape at the actions of the characters. I remember multiple occasions where I shot up in bed screaming at my television. With so many predictable drama's these days, the world of the married is refreshingly (albeit dark) unpredictable. I think the unpredictability comes by making each character as "human" and relatable as possible. We as humans make so many different decisions over the course of our lives, and I bet that even the best of us have made bad ones. But as humans we learn and we grow. Ultimately, I think that's what I took away from this drama. I will admit the ending left me a little disappointed. I had hoped for more loose ends to be tied, but I suppose true to the nature of human life, not everything can ever be wrapped neatly in a bow. Life still moves on, and we just continue to live and learn. Long story short, I recommend this drama. Even as someone who is typically a rom-com addict, this one was a good watch.

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