This show was fighting to find its direction

I re-watched this show for two reasons. I hadn't written a review previously, and I was hoping that upon second glance it would improve for me. Sadly that did not happen. This drama, for me, struggled to find a genre home - is it a rom-com? A drama? Slapstick? A Mystery? Since it didn't know what it wanted to be, I was having a hard time enjoying it. I certainly didn't feel it was a waste of time, by any means, but my enjoyment fell into "middle of the road" territory.

What I liked:
1) The kisses. The two main characters know how a kiss should look! And the kiss in the shower...my oh my.
2) The male lead. I love the way he was portrayed and I could relate to his struggles and feel empathy for him. There was definite growth in him as the show progressed.
3) The Silent Monster employees - quirky and funny, they also grew throughout the show, though at times it did seem forced, like the writers realized they were in episode and the characters were supposed to be acting a certain way.
4) Sweetness. There were quite a few really sweet scenes - the times the employees spent with the orphans, the male lead going to the barber shop all the time, the male lead dropping off plants at her house, and the ending scene was cute as well.

What I didn't particularly like:
1) Male lead's sister - get into some counseling, that's all I'll say.
2) Music - 3 songs repeated over and over, telling us when to feel what emotion.
3) "This is why we can't be together" - this was repeated so many times, each time a part of the mystery was revealed. Just when I thought that the issue had been resolved, they'd say that and then another part of the mystery was revealed. The mystery overall kind of bothered me. I felt like the plot was full of red herrings, and it was frustrating because it put a roadblock to the romance.
4) The makeup - this REALLY bothered me in this show! The skin tones for the two main leads seemed to change quite often, and in one kissing scene in particular, their coloring was so different that's all I could focus on. The lipstick was pronounced and obvious for the female lead, and for the other females, they failed to use lipstick on their whole lips...they just didn't paint the top part of their lips. Were they trying to make their lips look smaller? It was so strange, because their lip outline was so obvious! The two fathers - their makeup made them look like corpses - very white, pasty, shiny and plastic looking.

I felt that it was an okay show to watch if you are interested in a workplace romance, but I've seen it done better.

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Bucolic small town life

What I loved:
1) When the writing was shining a light on the ensemble cast, it was right on point. It did a wonderful job of developing the characters, allowing us to get to know and care about them. There was so much heart and humor in letting us feel what it's like to live in a small town, with its quirky characters, warts and all. To live in a place where everyone is all up in your business, but they've also got your back, made me long to be a part of their lives.
2) Overall cinematography. In general, beautifully filmed. The colors of the buildings, the boats in the harbor, long shots of the small town in the distance, combined to pull you into the drama.
3) Couple chemistry. So, I'm now going to have to call Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah the Dimple Duo!! Theirs was a sweet relationship of growth and development. The relationship made sense and they were so flipping cute together. Their smiles just lit up the screen.
4) Kim Seon Ho as Hong Doo Shik. What a wonderful character, beautifully portrayed by Kim. His happiness was almost palpable, as was his despair. The love he had for his friends and neighbors was a joy to watch.
5) Kim Young Ok as Kim Gam Ri. I want her to be my grandma! I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. She was so sweet, but she had twinkle in her eye that said she was up to something.
6) Non-triangle love triangle. I love when there is a potential triangle and the secondary person actually wants their love interest to be happy - that's love rather than obsession.

What I didn't love:
1) The character of Yoon Hye-Jin. Shin Min Ah did an excellent job, but I didn't care for this character much at all. I hated her at the beginning, so much that I debated whether I was going to be able to continue the show. Thankfully, I stuck it out and her hard edges softened somewhat. I understand the reasoning for the way she was, but there still needs to be something at least a little likeable about a main character or what's the point? Later on, when she softened up a bit, she was better, but then she started acting all aegyo and that worked my last nerve.
2) Some jarring camera angles. There were a few times when the camera angle completely took me out of the story. I think they were trying to be clever, but it was unsuccessful.
3) The idol storyline. It was done strictly to bring in more characters and then not much was done with it.

I ended up rating this show a little higher than I thought I would, based on the last couple of episodes. I felt that the last episodes really showed the heart of the show. The importance of family and friends, and the impact they have on us. On forgiveness, for others and for ourselves.

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Good chemistry

Jang Hyuk and Jang Nara had really good chemistry together. I loved how playful they were with each other. I felt that his acting was, unfortunately, over the top a lot of times, and that laugh, ugh! I also either wanted to go at his hair with a pair of clippers or loan him a barrette, his hair was ridiculous. My favorite scene with him was in ep 18 during the press conference. He was understated and you could really see his fear and hope and love shining through in his acting without all the antics. I did NOT like the drugging aspect of the show, and there was an awful long time for them to be apart, after the obligatory three-year separation. When he was pretending to be someone else and they were texting one another, that was very cleverly done, and gave us more opportunity to see them together. I also loved the storyline of him taking the female lead's mom as his mom. Very touching. Choi Jin Hyuk as the second male lead was excellent, and his deep voice...yum. The ending was very cute and you get to see a wedding and what happens in their lives after that, which I always like after spending all this time watching a show

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Seo Kang Joon was excellent

Seo Kang Joon did a good job of playing a dual role. The human was a real jerk and the robot was lovely. I tend to like to watch actors show their acting chops by either playing two disparate roles, or by changing completely from the beginning to the end of the drama. I just didn't find the storyline that entertaining and believable. I'm all for being willing to suspend disbelief, but I just couldn't believe that she would be satisfied with loving a robot. It seems awfully sad to me. This is one of those shows that I had such high hopes for, and was so disappointed.

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Toxic message and bullying abound

The story was okay, but Im Soo Hyang looked totally plastic. I think it was to emphasized all the reconstructive work she had had done, but as her expression hardly ever changed, it reminded me of a bad botox job. Cha Eun Woo had absolutely no facial expressions and his voice inflections never changed. Both characters were just bland.
So much emphasis was put on her completely making herself over, and her resultant self-esteem problems, I couldn't feel for her character at all. Was the message that you should be happy with who you are? Or was the message that you should consider plastic surgery? It was hard to tell. I didn't feel that the characters were fleshed out enough.
The body shaming in this drama was way over-the-top. A recurring question I have about Asian culture - do people just say whatever they think in front of people or is this just a cliche? ("He's so handsome" "She's so ugly") I can't imagine taking pictures of a man because he's handsome and talking to my friends about it with him standing there.
The last episode was cute though. Happy ending.

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The show hasn't aged well

You're beautiful is from 2009. I might have thought it was okay if I'd watched at that time, but watching it in 2021 made me see that it didn't age well. The clothes, the hairstyles, the filming - they all left a lot to be desired.

The story was okay, but the execution was lacking. There was so much repetitiveness in this show, at times I wondered if I'd accidentally not forwarded to the next episode.

As for the acting - jang Geun Suk at Tae Kyung was one-dimensional. He just looked angry throughout the whole show. There was no growth in his character. I loved him in Love Rain, so I know he can act, but it wasn't happening in this show.

By far the worst part of this whole mess was Park Shin Hye as Mi Nam and Mi Nyeo. She was extremely irritating throughout. Her character was a mess. They had her do things that I'm thinking they were hoping would come across as cute, but they didn't. From the way she walked to the way she talked, everything irked me. Shin Hye overacted her way through this - either wide-eyed, downcast, or bawling her eyes out, everything was just too over the top. I've seen her in more recent works and she's pretty good, so she has improved over the years.

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A purposely cliche-ridden show! Such a fun watch.

The only reason this show isn't a 10 is because the "real world" was so drawn out, everyone in the real world was toxic, and the heroine became kind of spineless at the end. That said, I still highly recommend this drama, because it is just so much fun!

STORY - I'm not going to repeat the synopsis, but let me just say, if you have been a fan of Asian dramas for awhile, you will love this show. I think it has pretty much every cliche we've learned to love/hate. There are multiple Hyun Bin references, homages to Goblin, DOTS, Kill Me Heal Me, and a couple of others that I didn't recognize. You've got the scrappy heroine/female lead that, once she goes into the novel, realizes that she's not the lead, which makes for very entertaining dilemmas. Overbearing CEO (yes, he's actually called that), second male lead which caused me serious second lead syndrome, the arm grabs, the shower scenes (they really played these up!) the comas, the evil family, the childhood traumas, etc. I loved all the lines relating to the FL in the novel "why does she trip every time she gets near the CEO? Doesn't this company make you pass a physical?" The writer did an excellent job of making fun of all these things, saying exactly what I'm sure all of us have said at one time or another. I did feel that the writing was more stilted at the end in the real world, it was bordering on cliche, unfortunately. I absolutely hated the FL in the novel - so vapid, with a whispery voice, wide eyes, and I was surprised she was able to breathe on her own without assistance. I didn't get why Xiao En was in love with the CEO/Ao Ran, other than that's what the FL is supposed to do. It made sense once they got to know each other, but it felt backward to me - just being in love with a pretty face, I guess. I loved the FL and her best friend - the kind of friendship that we all want to have in our lives.

CAST - Vivian Sung was good as Xiao En, though her hair hanging in her face was about to drive me crazy - give that girl a barrette, for heaven's sake! Marcus Chang as He Tian Hang/Ao Ran - let's be honest, this guy is serious eye candy. I think his acting tends to be a little flat and one note, which was perfect for this show. He did an admirable job of playing two different sides to the same person. Simon Lian as Qing Feng - he was my favorite person in the show. The strong, silent type, he really took the time to get to know Xiao En - I was shipping them for the longest time, even though I knew it could never be. I loved his relationship with Ao Ran as well. I was actually very sad that He Tian Hang didn't have his counterpart in the real world.

COSTUMING - Why they put the FL in huge, hanging, oversized, blousy, not attractive outfits through the whole thing, I have no idea. The clothes that the men wore were nice.

OST - beautiful. Marcus Chang did a few of the songs.

So, even though I felt like there was a lot of boring stuff, it was so fun to watch a show give voice to questions that I always have while watching these shows. Kissing first thing in the morning? Don't they need to brush their teeth?

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Watch this now!

I LOVED THIS DRAMA!! I loved that it was short, without all the unnecessary filler that most K-dramas have. The storyline was so complete and well fleshed out that I didn't feel that there was anything missing (other than more episodes to watch the two of them together!)So romantic. The leads were WONDERFUL together!! Their chemistry was amazing. I smiled through most of the show.
The two main actors worked so well together, and both of their characters grew from knowing the other. It was sad for me to think about living his whole life never seeing her again, fathering tons of children for the monarchy, etc., but I guess there was no other way they could have resolved the time gap. I would have liked just a few more minutes of them together at the end, but there is literally nothing not to like about this drama. I think this is my new "palate cleansing" drama to watch after I've watched a drama that was unsatisfying. Watch it, you'll be glad you did!

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Get to the point!

This show was entirely too long! The first 10 episodes were a whole lot of nothing. I had a problem with the relationship of the main leads, and here's why: First, I loved him. He was like Mr. Darcy, not suffering fools, cold on the outside, but feeling really deep emotions. And when he started to smile? OMG, I waited for those smiles! That was the high point of this show. She was cute and did a good job on the part as written, but the character was too immature. She liked him for no apparent reason, stalked him and stared at him for the first 10 or so shows, had no opinions of her own, and was perfectly happy to just follow him and his life. She was too much of a doormat. I felt that her clothes, especially, were very distracting. Too oversized, so many layers and those stupid headphones around her neck. Though I didn't find the romance necessarily believable, it was sweet. The kisses? For his part - great! For her part? Open eyes, fish lips, not believable at all. And after stalking him through most of the show, he asks her to marry him and she rejects him? No way. And I didn't get the character of Wu Bai (DT) - I didn't get that at all. He was quiet through most of the show, staring a lot at others. I didn't know if there was supposed to be something deep and hidden in him, but I didn't feel it was necessary to the show. I did like the character of Mi Shaofei and the female lead's roommate, that was cute. So, overall, I'd have to say that most of the points I gave this rating were because of the male lead.

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The writing of the main characters was disappointing

This show frustrated me on so many levels. I do have to say that my rating went up after seeing the last two episodes.
THE GOOD:
1) Kim Hae Sook as Dal Mi's grandmother. She was such a wonderful character throughout, never doing anything that was out of character. A strong woman, with a deep sense of caring for those she loves. I loved her interactions with the young Han Ji Pyung (played excellently by Nam Da-Reum) and the current Ji Pyung (also excellent Kim Seon Ho). Ji Pyung tried to hold her away, preferring to wallow in his loneliness, but she was able to get through that tough-guy facade to the true person. Kim Hae Sook has such a wonderful sweetness in this part, and her smiles and shining eyes made me love her, wishing she could be my grandmother.
2) Kim Seon Ho as Han Ji Pyung. This was a combined effort of good writing for this character and solid acting. I don't often have SLS but I seriously had it for Ji Pyung. As a child, you wanted to take him under your wing and care for him. As an adult, he was an astute businessman and who wouldn't love him, seeing the way he was with the grandma? He was also very protective of Dal Mi, not wanting to see her get hurt.
3) Friendships - The friendship between the three developers was outstanding. Nam Joo Hyuk, Kim Do Wan, and Yoo Soo Bin conveyed the feelings of long-standing friendships, alternating between being very supportive of one another and putting each other down, as good friends are able to get away with doing. I enjoyed the interactions between all members of the team, especially toward the end when they were finally hitting their stride.
4) Secret crush between Yoo Soo Bin and Stephanie Lee - their interactions were darling to watch. He was the typical goofy nerd and she played the part of a cold attorney so well (I loved her interspersing English into her conversations).
5) Yeo Jin Goo - having him voice the computer and then show up in a cameo at the end was a treat.
6) Cinematography - taking a page from Do San always talking about RGB, I loved the colors in this. The Sandbox building was full of bright colors, and interesting architecture.
7) The Sandbox - I liked the storyline of trying to build a company, working together, competing against one another, pulling all-nighters, etc. It's kind of how I imagine Google or someplace like that to be - a place full of creative minds, thinking outside the box, developing the "next new thing".
8) A time jump that actually made sense, for once.
9) The last two episodes were very strong, tying up all the loose ends, with a lot of emotion from everyone.
THE DISAPPOINTING:
1) The way the ML and the FL were written. I love Nam Joo Hyuk as an actor. He's got that height and build going for him, as well as that innocent face and the gift of being able to emote so well just using his eyes. Bae Suzy does a good job, except when she is playing a very emotional scene, then she tends to overact. My complaint was not with the actors, but with the characters. I can't remember the last time I watched a show with such a weak ML. This, of course, made the SLS stronger, because I, for the life of me, couldn't figure out why anyone would like this guy. He had terrible self-esteem problems, anger issues, and he seemed to spend the first three quarters of the show pouting. As for the FL, she was a hot mess. How could she be the CEO of anything (as evidenced by her sending over 400 texts with questions to be answered)? She was unable to make decisions and always relied on the help of others. She just seemed so weak to me. I do have to say that they got better after the time jump, but up until that time they were working my last nerve.
2) I didn't feel the relationship between the ML and the FL, not only because I wanted to ship the FL with the 2ML, but there just wasn't any chemistry there. I couldn't actually figure out why they supposedly liked each other, especially once she figured out that he'd been lying to her.
3) The lie went on too long and her response to the first part of the lie was totally unrealistic - she didn't have a problem with it!
4) The fist clench - it sounds funny to say, but they used the fist clench cliche so many times in this show I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - when someone clenches their fist, take a drink!
5) The very end of the show. The last two episodes were so strong, I was very disappointed that they chose to show what had happened in their lives by just showing pictures and the end is of them walking together down the hall. Very unsatisfying.

So, I'd say watch this for the business aspects, definitely not if you are looking for romance. If someone asked me my absolute favorite part of this show, I'd say the grandmother with any person that she came into contact with - especially Ji Pyung. This is the first time I've watched a show where my favorite character was the oldest one.

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Personal opinion

If you love bloody fight scenes, bad language and a plethora of bad guys, you'll probably enjoy this.

What I liked:
-The dynamic between the two male leads. I liked watching their friendship/camaraderie build. The scene in the barbeque restaurant when they were just getting acquainted as good, and I laughed at Do Hwan's character switching to honorifics when he realized he was the younger of the two.
-The workout exercising scenes. Superficial, I know.
-Woo Do Hwan. I felt that he did a good job with this part. He was being forced into something to stay alive, to a certain degree. I liked how he never lost that side of gentleness that he had. The last episode when he sees his mom, very touching. And don't get me started on his deep voice!
-Si Won. I enjoy him as an actor, and in this role he wasn't his quirky/odd self.

What I didn't care for:
-I felt that a lot of the fights were very over the top and unrealistic. I mean, you practically get beat to a bloody pulp, but then a couple of scenes later you're fine. And the main bad guy, when he was fighting the ML at the end? The guy was in his 50's to begin with. He's fighting against a trained fighter, but almost gets the better of the ML?
-The disappearing girlfriend. What happened?
-Bloody, bloody, bloody. I know, they're fighting, but wow!
-The cursing. Personal pet peeve of mine.

My bottom line would be that if you are totally into action shows, give this a try.

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hits and misses in this one

I have to say that all of the food scenes were an orgy for the senses, and they made me want to scout out the nearest good Chinese restaurant. The bromance between the two male leads was fun to watch, as their friendship developed. I didn't care for the female lead at all. I was hoping that she would kind of grow on me, but I found her smiling/smirking to show up at times that were very inappropriate. I felt like she was playing both men and that her emotions weren't totally invested in the male lead. And don't even get me started on her parents! The male lead really tried to step up, but the female lead just let the parents walk all over them. There's being respectful, and then there's being a doormat. And the mom saying that if they went to work in the restaurant, they would have to move out of the house? It wasn't even her house! Good kisses (though few and far between) and a happy, though rushed, ending, considering how many episodes I had to sit through.

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VERY unpopular opinion here...

Don't hate on me, and please remember that reviews are just the opinions of the reviewers. This reminded me of A Love So Beautiful, which I didn't care for either. I was so looking forward to watching this, based on all the glowing reviews. Part of the problem might have been that I watched this right after Hidden Love and enjoying it so much. Maybe it just couldn't live up to my expectations. I was looking forward to this drama because it was supposedly low angst, and I was drawn to that. That being said -

WHAT I LIKED:
-It was, in fact, low angst
-the storyline of the second couple. I loved how he liked her alone and was always trying to help her in whatever way he could, even though his heart was breaking because she didn't like him.
-no stupid misunderstandings
-when the typical storyline started of a female trying to get the ML showed up, I LOVED how the FL shut that down. She knew her man, had faith in him, and went straight to the woman to resolve the issue.
-a wedding. Though, for me, it didn't work here, I always appreciate a wedding after watching a couple get together.
-ML and his dimples

THE THINGS THAT DISAPPOINTED ME
-FL. Supposedly cute and bubbly, she came across as a stalker (she was sure she liked him after seeing him once, and never tired of telling him that she liked him) and immature. The actress was cute as a button, but between her voice, her mannerisms, her clothes, and her bouncing around all the time, she just reminded me of a hyperactive puppy. Plus, her way of talking was very fast and staccato, like she was blurting out phrases, one after another.
-her calling him "Rang Rang" all the time. It was cute at the beginning, but by episode three I was ready to make a drinking game out of it - hear her say Rang Rang, take a drink!
-why did the ML like her? When did he start liking her? I get that he probably appreciated her energy compared to how repressed he seemed to be, but I didn't see or feel the attraction between them.
-I admit that I wanted low angst, but I also wanted something to move the story along. There really wasn't anything going on. I felt like I was watching a documentary of the life of a teen in China. I was bored.
-the parents fawning all over him was somewhat cute, but I can't believe they would have been fine with their daughter living with a man before they got married.

In conclusion, if you are still reading this, I'd say if you want something mindless to watch that doesn't have a lot of the typical tropes, you might enjoy this. It just didn't have enough going on for me.

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Dissenting opinion here

Please bear in mind that this is ONLY my opinion!

The cinematography in this drama was fabulous, as was the music. Episode 1 started so strongly; I had high hopes for this show. Song Joong Ki and Ok Taec Yeon were both excellent. Plus, there was the advantage of a bunch of actors that I have loved in other works.

For me, this drama had a couple of problems. 1) First, so much bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed. Vincenzo is completely missing a moral compass, which made it hard for me to root for him in any capacity. Then, you have the upright citizens whose moral compasses go on the fritz or something and are willing to do whatever it takes for revenge. 2) The character was just all-around irritating. I kept waiting for her to get better, but no such luck. 3) I didn't feel the chemistry between the ML and FL. They would have been better to stick with the bromance.

But worst of all was the comedy. Don't get me wrong, the comedy was, for the most part, funny, and if the serious parts were less dark and violent, it might have worked well. However, it felt too much like the writers were trying to lighten up the heavy storyline and it felt contrived. The serious parts provided a lot of tension, but I kept being pulled out of the story by the comedy. So often, to me, this felt like a mash up of two diametrically opposed genres.

My review is to remind me of what I watched and what I thought, not to change anyone's mind, so please don't come at me with hate.

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Time I'll never get back

Same female lead as the first season, which is good, because she is just precious. I like her acting, and I like her character. She's very spunky. She's down on her luck but she's no one's door mat. I always enjoy watching strong female leads that are likeable.

Different actor for ML this time, and I wasn't buying him as the ML. Expressionless and he seemed very uncomfortable. I didn't find his acting totally believable, but that may be partially due to the script.

However, the rest of the actors (other than his secretary) were really overacting. It is really hard to take people seriously when they scream and stomp and act like babies.

I watched this because I felt like I needed to finish both of them, but I can't recommend either.

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