Encounter is the perfect drama for romance drama lovers. This drama made me smile a lot and I'm so glad I watched it. Actually I was hesitant to watch it at first after reading some reviews about how the drama is slow, have too many flashbacks and how it could've been shortened to 12-14 episodes.

In the end, I gave in and decided to watch it as I was curious about what type of chemistry Park Bogum and Song Hye Kyo would bring to this drama. And anyway, those 2 names are enough to get me curious to give it a go.
And I must say I am incredibly surprised at how much I enjoyed this drama.

What I Liked:
THE CHARACTERS: yes the story is slow paced and that's because it's actually a drama that gives more focus on building the characters than the story it self and I think that's why the pace worked for me. The drama itself was about the journey of love between Jin Hyuk and Cha Soo-Hyun. The back story of Soo-Hyun was exactly that, just a back story to give it some tension (if that). In terms of the chemistry, I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two. I never once thought it was awkward or forced. I thought both actors did such an amazing job with their acting as well, especially in the emotional heavy scenes, you could really feel their pain and heartache.

OST: I'm a sucker for drama OSTs and I loved the OST in this, that fact that there were some in English made me appreciate it a bit more and I found myself singing along to them whenever they came on :D That aside, the soundtrack definitely worked well with the scenes and added extra emotional impact to them on top of the already incredible actors.

EDITING/CINEMATOGRAPHY: The flashbacks in the reviews I read about before watching this drama was what worried me the most before watching it. I don't like watching too many flash backs.. However, having completed the drama, I must say that those were actually very well done and I actually really liked them. The flashbacks were edited in during certain scenes that gives extra impact to the 'present' scene. And actually in some of them it makes the 'present' scene even stronger as it shows the reasons why Cha Soo-Hyun or Jin Hyuk are doing certain things.
I especially thought the retro-photo style and the fairytale animations were a great touch too. The photo style obviously reflecting Jin Hyuk's love for photography, whilst the fairytale animations reflect the fairytale-like story between the 2 characters.

What I Didn't Like:
-The turnout from the backstory of Cha Soo Hyun with Taegyong Group/Chairwoman Kim was underwhelming. It seemed like the climax of the story was going to be from the them but nothing major actually ever happens. I felt like Woo-Seok's character was a wasted character that was really just to give the slightest bit of tension between the 2 main leads.

-Aside from that, there's not really a lot to dislike about this drama. Would I watch it again? Probably not but I'm glad that I DID watch it cause it made me smile and made me feel happy. I love romantic dramas with happy endings the most and this just ticked the box. The only reason I wouldn't watch it again is that I don't think it will have the same effect to me if I watched it for a 2nd time. So I'd rather keep the good vibes that it left me after watching it for the first time.

Would I recommend it?
Definitely! BUT only if you like romantic dramas and don't mind a slower pace. If you like feeling giddy/flustered over the main characters romance then yes. If you like seeing character development/growth, then yes.