A dash of spice, a whole lot of cute, and the tiniest drop of drama

WinTeam became my favorite couple easily within the first four episodes and that didn't let up at all. The series had some of the nostalgic feelings that reminded me of older BL, but in a more progressed stage.

There is some overlap with UWMA, as this takes place concurrently with it. Sometimes that felt a bit much for me, but that's always because I had just finished UWMA. If I hadn't, I don't think I would've been feeling that way. It was fun to see in time how the relationship grew and took place.

What drew me most to this couple and the drama is the authenticity of it. The relationship felt realistic for the most part, and oddly, quite healthy considering the characters ages and the setting. We saw their insecurities, and at times how that got in the way, but they each spoke with people around them and made efforts to progress. It was refreshing, especially with all the common tropes that we usually get in BLs involving more toxic elements. This didn't feel like that at all.

There was some drama around Team's past, but again, that felt very authentic. They presented his symptoms and his management of the feelings related to the event in a very realistic way. Honestly, my biggest issue was the overabundance of side romances. None of them were able to be fleshed out and those were the scenes I ended up zoning out on at times. But the ABSea trio made up for some of that by grabbing my attention right back.

I'm not one to typically rewatch, but this will be on my list.

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I'm not crying; you're crying.

I had the chance to watch this during its initial airing, but after seeing the first 10 minutes it was an instant-no for me. Years later, I circled back and saw how beloved the drama was. For me, the topics approached in the drama, particularly in that opening scene, are especially sensitive.

I am glad I gave it another go and pushed past that initial gut response. First off, it hits one of my favorite tropes (which isn't done often, and when it is done, it's not usually done well)--reincarnation. I thought they handled that beautifully, pairing in the layers with family. It aligned the elements of food to have a common thread (hah), but I do wish some of the other scenes had a more fluid alignment (like mirroring the past, but different).

I've commented in other reviews I don't usually care much for music in dramas, but this one was actually pretty good and did add to the scenes usually (though the doom song, as I call it, did feel overused at some points).

I think my biggest gripe with the story is actually the interaction with Dean and Pharm in the last episode. It felt unnecessary to me and that they could've handled Pharm's concerns differently. I also got annoyed with Pharm's reactions to intimacy. It often felt dub-con-y, even though it isn't meant to be at all.

Outside of those things, the acting was really great and they did emotional scenes beautifully. It may have been cool to see the families come together, but I can live without that.

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