A little confused but it's got the spirit

The K2 is one of those shows that I’ve seen around regularly since I started watching K-dramas, and while some people seemed to like it, there are few shows I’ve seen get torn apart the way this one does. Then again I mostly see it talked about in Instagram and Instagram comments suck and all but whatever.

Anyways, I decided to ignore some of the backlash and give it a shot anyways. I mean it’s got ji Chang-Wook in it, so I’d watch it just for him. But honestly, I did enjoy the show, it did have some issues, absolutely, but I don’t think the extent of the negativity this show gets is deserved.

The first episode started out pretty strong introducing us to all the main characters. I really enjoyed the sections with An-Na and the K2 or Je-Ha, and the episode left me feeling pretty disturbed, which I can totally get behind for a show like this. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t always live up to the standards the first couple episodes set for me. So while I liked it, I do get what people mean when they say it was wasted potential. It was good but it could have been better.

Choi Yoo-jin was one of my favorite characters, she was delightfully horrible to watch on screen. I loved and hated her all at the same time. Most of the other villains weren’t as well done as she was, but I liked most of them well enough.

One of the highlights of the show was some of the action scenes and intense flashbacks, oh and the music. I don’t know exactly what style it was but I thought the music added really nicely to all of the dramatic parts of the show.

I loved Ji Chang-wook’s portrayal of Ja-Ha, he’s a pretty good mix of stoic and kind of soft. Most other reviews I’ve seen liked him well enough. An-Na on the other hand, gets a lot of hate. I imagine that her character was pretty darn hard to portray and I have to give props to Im Yoon-Ah. An-Na isn’t exactly that kind of “strong independent” female protagonist that a lot of people have come to like, but I thought she was interesting in her own right.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen about her character is that she’s naïve, which is fair enough. But for someone who has been separated from society for most of her life, it makes sense,

As far as the romance goes, I thought it was fine, though there isn’t much of it. An-Na and Je-Ha spend much more screen time apart then they spend together, what little time was spent on their romance, I thought was cute. Theres plenty of other things to keep your interest outside of the romance though, so it was fine.

Unfortunately, on that note, there might be a little too much going on. It might just be me but there were a few times where I was a little lost, and that kind of took me out of the story a few times.

Also another kind of random note, why are so many shots so shaky? I get that it’s probably a stylistic choice or something, but it was overdone. And I get that this was somewhat of a retold fairytale, but I wasn’t a fan of the mirror. I also wish the ending had been wrapped up just a bit cleaner.

Overall I though that The K2 had it’s problems, I had a good time watching it. And since I finished all sixteen episodes I obviously liked it enough to spend my time on it. So yeah, that’s all.

Leia Mais

A pretty good, but imperfect drama

When I saw this show around, I know I had to watch it. Because what can I say, I’m a sucker for cute kids. And Please Be My Family has some of the arguably cutest kids in any drama I’ve watched.

One of the things that sets this show apart from some of the other single parent romances I’ve watched, is the fact that both characters in the main couple are single parents. Qi Si Le is a single mother of a five year old daughter, and Song Hao Yu is the single father of a five year old son.

Due to a pretty long string of events, that I won't detail, Si Le and Hao Yu get married, in doing so, providing both of their children and themselves a semblance of a complete family. And my gosh did I love their little makeshift family!

Watching Si Le and Hao Yu’s relationship develop over the framework of the kids and their family was one of my favorite parts of the show. And watching each of them connect with the other ones child through the story was freaking adorable on both ends.
Si Le and Hao Yu have quite a lot of cute fluff moments when they get together, and I loved every second of it. I could have used more of that and less of some of the stuff we got later on.

I’ve seen some people complaining about the cast, but I actually really liked them all. The kids were adorable, and I thought both Hao Yu and Se Li were well cast, I really liked them together.

Oh and another thing I loved fist, Si Le encounters not one, but two “Love rivals” and the way this drama dealt with both of them was phenomenal. Unlike many FL’s, especially in C-Dramas, Si Le is actually mature enough to deal with it all civilly and not allow them to cause a rift between her and Hao Yu. And this is also the only drama I’ve watched where FL actually becomes close friends with one of then. I loved their dynamic so freaking much too.

And as much as I did love the show, it does fall victim to a few of them problems that this kind of drama does. Including some underdeveloped plot points and a somewhat frustrating third act breakup.

I did agree more with FL during that whole story arc than I do with most though. While it was a bit frustrating, her reasoning made sense.

The last couple episodes were a little rushed and I wished we could have stayed on a few of the things that happened a little longer, but I did like the ending, so that mostly makes up for it.

I also found the secondary couple pretty uninteresting. But I’ve talked to some people who loved them.

None of this really detracted much from the things I liked though, it was an imperfect but still highly enjoyable drama.

Leia Mais

Not great, but pretty good

I’m fresh out of finishing this drama right now, and unfortunately I think I went in with too high of expectations. PYHOMS is pretty darn popular, and after seeing it around a ton a finally decided to give it a shot.

I finished the drama in about a week, and while I did enjoy it, it was a bit lacking too. There isn’t much going on plot wise, which I don’t always think is a bad thing, sometimes I enjoy a brainless fluff romance. And this show was definitely that.

While there is a bit of story going on with both the ML and FL’s careers and college, the story is really just about their romance. Which by the way, takes quite a while to kick off.

Overall, I liked Situ Mo and Gu Weiyi together, they were adorably awkward and I enjoyed most of their scenes together. Compared to the romances in a lot of C-Dramas, this one seems a little more real, they’re awkward and unsure about their relationship for most of the show, and I did enjoy slowly seeing them get more comfortable together. I did however find Gu Weiyi and how his character was being played maybe even a little too awkward.

There’s tons of cute fluff moments once they get together and plenty of fun banter before they do, so there was usually something going on that I liked.

There aren’t many conflicts throughout the show, and those that arise tend to be delt with quickly, so if you want a really low stress watch, this is perfect for that. You’re not going to find anything plot heavy of thought provoking though.

The OST, while not my favorite, served its purpose well, and there were one or two songs that I liked pretty well.

I found myself pretty uninterested in the secondary romance plot line, though some people really did like them, so it’s a bit of a gamble I think.

The ending of the show did leave me with a little more to be desired, even after watching the thirteen-minute special episode after it. The story ends pretty abruptly, and I would have liked several parts of the story to have been wrapped up a little cleaner.

Overall, PYHOMS was just pretty good. Though it didn’t stick out as a masterpiece, I enjoyed it well enough and would recommend it for a pretty short brainless romance story if you’re into that.

Leia Mais

The poster child for a cliche rom-com, but in a good way

As a K-drama, Business Proposal isn’t exactly anything profound, the fake dating plot, love triangle, and poor chicken shop girl with rich CEO romance are all plots we’ve seen a million times before. But I swear we still eat it up every time, and with Business Proposal, I absolutely did.

This was actually my first K-Drama ever, but I’m going back after watching over twenty others, and my opinions still remain the same. Business Proposal took a tried and true formula and executed it well.

The casting is probably one of the biggest highlights of the show, good acting and a good cast can make almost any basic plot enjoyable, and Business Proposal is undeniably a pretty basic plot. I’m not complaining though because I loved every second of it.

Both the lead couple and the second lead couple were perfectly cast, and the chemistry with both pairs was on point. I usually only care about one couple in a show, but in this one I loved them both. Plus, they’re all hot so that’s always a bonus.

It's pretty cheesy, but not too cringey, and the show is mildly unhinged, but I think it’s exactly what a good brain rot Rom-Com should be. I actually found myself laughing out loud several times while watching it, and not many shows get that out of me.

While not one of my favorites ever I did really like the OST and it added to the show in all the right ways, so no complaints for me there.

There isn’t much more to say about the show plot wise, but it’s got great romance, genuinely funny jokes and makes for an enjoyable time.

It's not a masterpiece but it’s exactly what it’s supposed to be.

Leia Mais

100% biased but I'm in love

I had somewhat mixed feelings going into this drama. I’m a pretty big fan of both Shin Hye-sun and Ji Chang-wook, so I was on board for them, but as a general rule I don’t love second chance romances, so I wasn’t super keen on that aspect of it.

I’m beyond glad that I gave it a change though, it 100% won me over, and quick too. It’s been a good long while since I’ve scored a show this high, I’m madly in love with it.

Okay first off, the freaking cast. This was an absolutely phenomenal cast, Shin Hye-sun as Sam-dal and Ji Chang-wook as Yong-pil were perfect. I don’t know how they managed to bring so much emotion into each of these roles, it was perfect, zero notes. And the chemistry between them was definitely there from their first interactions on screen. As previously stated, I’m not a huge fan of second chance romances, but this one had me rooting for them to get back together pretty much from the beginning.

Every other character was well cast too, from Sam-dal’s sisters to her parents, the haenyeos, to the friend group. Even the characters that didn’t get very much screen time brought something to the show and I was rooting for every single one of them.

The filming locations were stunning, and I found myself falling in love with the little town of Samdal-ri and the whacky cast of characters that live there. I got excited every time I started a new episode and heard the intro play since I knew I was in for something good.
Sam-dal’s journey was so beautifully done. Watching her character go from her lowest emotional state and building up from that was amazing, it got to me. Seeing her reconnect with her friends, her family, her ex and herself was just AHHH. I want to say something articulate here but I don’t even know how, It was just amazing.

Yong-pils character, Oh my gosh. I love this man. I would die for this man. He’s one of the greenest green flags to ever green flag, Ever. Enough said.

The romance developed pretty slow, but the progression is steady, and it always gave me just enough to keep me wanting more from them. And because the build up was slow, it made those little moments that much better. I love them together so much I don’t have the words for it.

Welcome to Samdal-ri had me pretty darn emotional in every episode, and the flashbacks, the freaking flashbacks. They wrecked me, in the best way possible. I don’t cry when I watch shows, but this one got me close.

The music was perfect for the show, I don’t have too many notes about it, but it served it’s purpose well, and I liked it enough to add most of the OST to my playlist. So yeah.

I dunno may, maybe it was just the right story at the right time for me, but I loved it so much. This was definitely one of the most, if not the most healing dramas I’ve ever watching, it’s probably my number one comfort drama right now, it’s got the perfect amount of funny and feels to get me through the day.

I could probably gush about it for the rest of the day, but I’m running out of intelligent words, so bye.

Leia Mais

12 episodes of highly entertaining madness

I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I started watching Happiness, I saw one clip of it online and decided to watch it from that. So I wasn’t exactly expecting a zombie apocalypseesk (but not quite), romance thriller, but that what I got, and I enjoyed every second of it.


Okay first off, I usually watch K-dramas for the romance, which this show has, but it doesn’t exactly take center stage for most of the show. Instead the romance is ever present, but comfortably in the background. Having said that Sae-bom and Yi-hyun still manage to make the charts as one of my favorite K-drama couples ever. Their relationship was startlingly stable, and I loved every single interaction they had with each other, even if it wasn’t necessarily a romantic one. They just played off of each other perfectly.


All of the thriller aspects of the show were really well done as well. And I often found myself more concerned about what the absolutely insane residents of this apartment building were going to do to each other, rather than being concerned about the infected people attacking them.


Every resident in the apartment building had enough character to be interesting in their own right, some of them I wanted to kill, some of them I loved to death, but each of them was well portrayed.


I thought the cast was pretty much perfect, both for the main characters and every side character. And Park Hyung-sik was absolute husband material here, 10/10 husbanding. It’s been quite a while since I finished this one and I’m still madly in love with his portrayal of Yi-hyun. Also like, I’m not into women but if I was I’d definitely be into Sae-bom.


Theres so many good intense moments in Happiness, and some pretty good jump scares too, I would not recommend watching it at night in the cupboard under the stairs like I did. And the music really adds well to the tone, it doesn’t have many full songs like most K-dramas do, but the music always suits the mood really well.


I wish we had gotten more at the end of the show, just a little more after the conflict resolution since it’s a little abrupt, but I won’t complain too much. That does tend to happen in 12 episode dramas that have a lot to be resolved. And I have a few other very minor gripes with it, most of which didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment, so I don’t think I’ll really go into them.


If you haven’t watched it yet, give it a shot. Happiness is just pretty freaking good.

Leia Mais

Just Beautiful

Our Beloved Summer was one of the first K-Dramas I ever watched, I didn’t know anything about the actors or story at the time, so I didn’t have any set expectations when I started. And it remains one of my favorite comfort K-Dramas, even with the twenty I’ve watched since.

Opinions about this show seem to be quite polarized, and I’m glad I watched it before reading all the negative reviews that might’ve scared me off. People love it or hate it, and I’m certainly one of the former.

The story spans over quite a bit of time and I thoroughly enjoyed both the flashback sections of the show and what's happening in modern day. The structure allowed for some beautiful parallel scenes too.

While I love this show, I do understand why some people don’t, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The story and relationship progression are both slow, so if you hate slow dramas, you’re most likely not going to like this one. But even with the slow progression, I was never bored.

Our main couple, Choi Ung (played by Choi Woo-Shik) and Kook Yeon-Soo (played by Kim Da-mi) were both perfectly cast. They made both hilarious rivals in the beginning and an awkwardly sweet couple later on. I thoroughly enjoyed all of their different dynamics.

I’ve seen several people bashing Yeon-Soo as a character, and while I will say initially, I didn’t find her very likeable, as the story progressed and her character developed, she won me over. I did like Ung from the beginning though, but as fellow sleep deprived artist I may be a little biased.

Honestly, I’m not usually a fan of second chance romances but this one got me. Through swapping between the current day and flashbacks of when the characters were previously together, it becomes quite clear why they didn’t initially work. But unlike many second chance romances, this one is able to take the reasons they didn’t work then and through a ton of character development, show why they do now. And they do work beautifully.

While much of the character development is shown through the lenes of a relationship, much of it is deeply individual. Ung and Yeon-Soo go from somewhat miserable individuals, both wallowing in their struggles, to two people who are able to make the best of their lives. And it was done beautifully.

Besides our main couple, there is a side romance with their friends, I found this to be the least interesting part of the show, ultimately though, it didn’t dampen my overall enjoyment.

I don’t fully know how to describe the overall tone, but mellow might be a good word.
Everything that I liked about the show was amplified by the OST. There isn’t a single miss in the soundtrack. The music helped set the mood phenomenally, and I’ve listened to it so many times that four of my top five most listened to songs in 2023 were from this soundtrack. It’s without a doubt my favorite K-Drama OST ever.

There’s so much more I could talk about in this review that I loved, from all the side characters to the family dynamics and beautiful cinematography, but this review is already long enough. So, I’ll leave it here.

Our Beloved Summer is a beautifully thought-provoking show, that made me laugh, cry, and reevaluate my life. Go give it a shot.

Leia Mais

A fantasic drama that is truly one of a kind

Recently in some of my online groups I’ve seen people bashing on It’s Okay to Not be Okay, so here we are, because I will defend this show until my dying breath. It’s been months since I’ve finished it, I’m definitely not over it and it remains one of if not my favorite K-Drama I’ve ever watched.

It’s Okay to Not be Okay is truly a one-of-a-kind show. I only started watching K-Dramas in early 2023 and I’ve watched twenty or so since, and for every other show there’s at least one other that I can compare it to. But there’s not a single piece of media that I have ever consumed that I could compare to this.

The story of It’s Okay to Not be Okay mainly follows three characters, Ko Mun-Yeong, Moon Sang-Tae, and Moon Gang-Tae. And as the title of the show would suggest, none of them are in any sense of the word, okay.

One of the things I’ve seen most people complaining about is Ko Mun-Yeong’s character. Particularly the fact that both herself and her relationship with Gang-Tae are toxic. I won’t refute that. She is, it is. But that’s kind of the point.

Mun-Yeong doesn’t care about anyone else, and Gang-Tae doesn’t care about himself. Throughout the course of the show, they both grow individually and together, allowing them to go from some of the reddest flags I’ve seen in a K-drama, to green flags for each other.

And while I loved the romance portion of the show between Gang-Tae and Mun-Yeong, I may have enjoyed the friendship between Sang-Tae and Mun-Yeong even more. They go through many phases, from Sang-Tae idolizing Mun-Yeong, to being friends with her, to hating her, to developing a relationship reminiscent of siblings. And it was an absolute delight to watch.

The pseudo family formed between Sang-Tae, Gang-Tae and Mun-Yeong was incredibly wholesome and pretty much made the entire drama for me.

None of that would have been possible through without the phenomenal cast. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a better cast show. I can’t imagine any other actor or actress taking these roles, it was like they were made for them.

The child actors that play the main trios childhood counterparts for flashbacks were also perfectly cast. I don’t know how they managed to find kids that not only looked like the adult character, but were also able to capture the character.

Some of the flashback scenes and the parallels to modern day were my favorite scenes in the show. And they get bonus points for the stunning cinematography in those scenes, which by the way is a constant throughout the show.

The best episodes though were the ones where one of Mun-Yeong’s books is read over a scene. The books are all well written and are always a beautiful metaphor for whatever is going on at the time.

The OST is also amazing. The songs always fit the tone perfectly, and Janet Suhh who does some of the tracks ended up being my top artist on Spotify because of how often I got back to listen to the soundtrack.

In addition to all that, the set design is amazing, as well as the costuming. Every single one of Mun-Yeong’s outfits were on point.

I could write a ten page essay detailing everything in the show that I love, but I wanted to leave this review mostly spoiler free and not too absurdly long, so I'll end it here.

It's Okay to Not Be Okay is a phenomenal show that covers a wide array of topics, mostly involving mental health. It’s funny, sad, serious, beautiful, wholesome and thought provoking all in the best ways.

If you haven't watched it, I would highly encourage giving it a shot.

Leia Mais

It's like a warm hug in drama form

I didn't realize this was a mini-series when I first started it, but once I realized I was a bit skeptical that with only ten twenty-two or so minute episodes, I wouldn't be able to grow that much of an attachment to the characters and stories. Most ten-episode J-Dramas are three times that length after all. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

I loved every episode of this show, and Himari and Shin's relationship was actually so freaking adorable that I don't even know how to express how much I loved them. I don't know quite how to describe it, but I think this show feels like a warm hug. I wasn't expecting such a comforting drama, but that's what I found. And honestly, I'm not sure it can be classified as a drama, because there isn't much drama in it. Even with the lack of dramatic conflict, I was never bored, the story didn't need petty villains, absurd plot twists, or shockbait to be good, and I loved that.

Himari and Shin were the highlight of the show of course. I loved seeing the steady progression of their relationship from two people married for convenience, to a couple that really love and care for each other. There aren't any second leads to drive them apart or miscommunication to drive us insane, just two loveable weirdo's falling for each other. And once they really are together, they have a shockingly healthy relationship, which isn't always common in dramaland. Himari having to learn to care not only about others, but also for herself, and Shin reinforcing that was an absolute delight to watch.

And while I loved them as a couple, both of their individual characters were interesting in their own rights too. I was glad that Shin wasn't the stoic emotionless male lead, and that Himari wasn't your typical naive female lead, it was a breath of fresh air.
There are a few side characters too, which aid to the plot when necessary, but didn't have much story on their own, I didn't mind that though, it gave us more time with the leads.

Though I think that the short length of the drama overall worked, there were a couple of plot points I think could have been fleshed out a little better if we had been given one or two more episodes. And that's pretty much my only real gripe with the whole thing.

Marry Me! was such a simple drama overall, and was an incredibly comforting watch. I had a stupid smile on my face for pretty much the whole show, which by the way, I finished in like one sitting. I'll probably be back for a rewatch too.

Leia Mais

Is it a comedy? Drama? A weirdly deep social commentary? I don't know man, but I liked it.

Yangotonaki Ichizoku is a drama that falls into a very specific genre that I like to call Petty-Rich-People-Drama-Making-The-Leads-Lives-Miserable. And I don't mean that as an insult, I tend to like said genre. This show certainly has some of the things I would expect from that genre, crazy inlaws, inheritance battles, an endless spewing of drama that never lets the leads rest, y'know all that, but I found a lot more than that here too.

After reading the summary and deciding to give this a shot, I was fully expecting another drama with your stoic, emotionally inept rich male lead and the naive somewhat annoying female lead with a mediocre romance plot. And I am very happy to report, that I didn't find that here at all. Kenta and Sato as characters are really what set this drama apart for me.

Kenta is quite possibly one of the greenest flags I have ever seen in a drama. Not only is he incredibly kind, but he's also emotionally intelligent and supportive of his wife. (Love me a good supportive husband character!!) And honestly, Sato is just a green flag too, they're just a freaking green forest together. I'm so glad Sato didn't end up being like I expected. I actually adore her character, compared to most J-Drama FL's she's quite mature which was a nice change of pace from other shows plus isn't a pushover. Sato doesn't just put up with the crap her inlaws throw at her, or wait for her husband to save her. Though he is always there to back her up, which I loved. And by the way, Sato is equally supportive of Kenta.

Unlike most dramas, Kenta and Sato are already together when the show starts. Initially, I thought this might make it harder to get invested in their relationship, as we didn't get to see attraction grow before they got together or watch their relationship develop in the early stages, but after one or two episodes I was sold. They were an absolute delight to watch, and without a doubt, the best part of the drama. They do this lovely thing that a lot of other drama couples could learn, it's called communication. I was actually shocked at how healthy their relationship was, they complemented each other amazingly well, which couldn't have been done if it weren't for the casting, I don't think the show could have been better cast.

Other than Sato and Kenta's relationship, there was always a lot going on. It's primarily eleven episodes of family and business drama with something new thrown at you every two seconds. Kenta's family is an absolute mess, and pretty much all of them are at least a little insane. Every character in that family was extremely over the top and dramatic. I feel like it should have felt out of place given how mellow and down-to-earth the main leads were, but for some reason, I felt like the contrast actually worked.

Disguised under all the absurd drama there were also several recurring themes about women's places in society. Even though there's a lot more than that going on, this ultimately ended up feeling like that was what this show was really trying to get you to think about. That part of the show, I think actually worked. It was brought up in so many different ways through different characters, that it really gave a broad perspective of the topic.

And while the romance was my favorite part of the show, I loved so many of the other characters and relationships established. For such a short show, there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but they all have their own unique stories that at least get a moment to shine. In the beginning, I hated pretty much all of Kento's family, and by the end, I really liked most of them.

I know most of this review is talking about the things that I liked about this show because I did enjoy it, it's definitely got some flaws too. While I enjoy overly complicated plots, there are unfortunately a few points in this show that I didn't feel were wrapped up as well as they should have been. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, and some of the relationships were repaired too easily. There just wasn't enough time to really wrap it up.

Without spoilers, I will say there was one plot point nearing the end that I really didn't enjoy much, and I know I'm not alone. Fortunately, the part that bothered me didn't last for a long period of the show. There was also one villian that kinda annoyed me. I didnt like it when she was on sceen. Just wanted them to push her off a bridge or something.

And while sometimes the tone shifts and differences in characters' level of dramatics worked, the show was occasionally pretty confused in tone.

Is it a comedy? A drama? A full freaking soap opera? A satire? A social commentary? None or all of the above?

Honestly, I don't know if I, or this show, know what it's trying to be, I just know I liked it.

Leia Mais

A pretty decent weekend watch

Was this show anything remarkable or ground breaking? Not really. Did I enjoy watching it? Absolutely.

The contract marriage plot with the rich guy poor girl isn't really anything new. The shows plot is incredibly convoluted, and the family dynamics are nearly impossible to follow. Its pretty typical in a lot of ways for this kind of show, but I didnt mind it.

I personally feel the show knew what it was, a pretty surface level rom com, and never tried to be anything more than that.

For me the absolute highlight of the show was definatly the main couple. I thought both of their actors were very well cast and did a wonderful job. Though it took a couple of epiosdes to get there, the chemistry between the ML and FL was definatly there, and I ate it up.

While that may have been a highlight of the show, it also was one of the downfalls, because even though they were absolutely phenomenal together, there were pretty large chunks of screen time where we didnt get any of them together at all.

The comedy was pretty decent, the plot was entertaining enough, and the acting was pretty good. If your looking for a masterpiece or a thought provoking deep show, you won't find it here. But if you're looking for a few hours of light entertainment on a weekend, i would definatly recommend it.

Leia Mais

Heart-wrenchingly and Hilariously Beautiful

Go Ahead is without a doubt my favorite C-Drama I’ve ever watched. I’d seen quite a few before this one and I wasn’t really expecting anything amazing from it, but by the end of episode one I was already 100% percent sold on the story. And by the time I was finished with it I was left with some mad post drama depression because no other C-Dramas were matching up to this one.


There’s a ton going on in this drama, but I think this is probably the best way to sum it all up, Go Ahead is an emotionally devastating and uplifting show about the story of how three unrelated kids (Li Jianjian, Ling Xiao, and He Zi Qiu) and two single dads (Li Hai Chao and Ling Heping) become a pseudo family. The story covers a full twenty years of the characters’ lives.


Often, shows that span a long period of time loose me, it’s hard to follow characters and a story when the setting, characters and story are so frequently changing with the time, but I was fully invested in every period of their lives.


I would say the show takes place in three main sections. The first is when the children initially meet as little kids, and the current family dynamic is set up, the next takes place during high school, and the third with the characters as adults.


Go Ahead takes family dynamics and shows how they change over time, how people can grow further apart and closer together, and how said change isn’t always a bad thing. It was one of the most beautifully heart wrenching pieces of media I have ever consumed. And the OST only added to it, it made both the happy and the sad moments much more intense and there’s not a single miss of a song in the soundtrack. I never skipped the into or outro sequence, never once.


Though it isn’t the initial most important point, there is a romance plot that takes significance in the latter half of the show. Without spoilers I can say there were a few directions taken that I didn’t think I would like, but ultimately did. And I ate up the romance. As with many other drama watchers, I watch most of them primarily for romance. I did, however, find myself equally invested in all aspects of this show.


The family dynamics are incredibly complicated, both the stories with the characters’ biological families and their chosen families were expertly done. And as is a trend in the drama, all of it is absolutely heart wrenching.


It’s not just heart wrenching though, it’s also absolutely hilarious and incredibly wholesome, honestly just the whole package. Unlike many other shows I’ve seen, this one is actually able to transition between all the different tones smoothly, the tone never seems confused and the switch ups are never jarring.


It also establishes some friendships too, every character regardless of how “important” they were to the main story, had a story of their own. It was nice to see every character treated like an individual person. They all felt real, at least in the way they can for being in an overly dramatized story.


And I loved every single one of them. I would die for them all I swear. Except for like one villain. I would like to kill her. The dad’s though, I can’t even express how much I loved both of them, them and all three kids were a delight to watch together.


I have never watched another show that has managed to emotionally wreck in the way this one did but did not leave me feeling depressed. It left me thinking when I had finished it, and I couldn’t start another show for weeks because I was too hung up on this one.


My only gripe with the entire show is the last episode. Don’t get me wrong, it was good and did wrap most everything up neatly in a relatively satisfying way, I just wanted more. There was so much more I wanted to see from these characters, but I’ll have to suffice with what we got.


It’s a pretty long drama too, very rarely does a long drama leave me wanting more, but I would have eaten up twice the amount of content with these characters.


I don’t think this review could ever possibly express how much I loved it, but it’s all I got for now.


If you haven’t given it a shot, please do. Go Ahead is an absolute gem among C-Dramas.

Leia Mais

Saved Me From a K-Drama Slump

I've been in a slump lately, with mediocre drama after mediocre drama. But I'm happy to report that this show sucessfully won me back.

Perfect Marriage Revenge is a K-Drama based off of an ongoing (almost finished) webtoon. I've read the webtoon and I enjoyed it well enough. And who doesn't love the contract marriage trope? So I decided to give the drama a shot, and I'm so glad I did.

It isn't exactly a faithful adaptation, while a lot of the same things happen in the two, there's a different order of events, which I personally think flows much better in the drama. The drama also has better development of the relationships and stronger characterization. I enjoyed both Yi-Ju and Do-Guk's characters significantly more here than I did in the Webtoon.

The last show I watched Sung Hoon in, I wasn't a huge fan. So, I was delightfully surprised by how much I loved his portrayal of Do-Guk here. And Ji-Yu couldn't have been cast better. The two of them worked phenomenally together and their romance was defiantly the highlight for me!

The revenge plot is incredibly convoluted, and the relationship dynamics are a tangled web that's nearly impossible to unwind, in the most delightful way possible. While I have seen some people complain about how complicated it was I felt the show was well enough written that I was never lost. Every scene progressed the plot in some way and there was certainly never a dull moment.

Every character was perfectly cast. I loved who I was supposed to love and hated who I was supposed to hate. Which is a feat not all dramas can accomplish. In fact, I'm not sure I've hated a villain this much in a good long while.

The only thing that's keeping me from giving this show a perfect score is episode one. The show started out a bit slow and I didn't like the characters much. It wasn't until maybe the last twenty minutes of the episode that it got me. By the end of episode one I was invested enough to keep watching. And by the beginning of episode two I was 100% sold on it. I enjoyed every second of the next eleven episodes and would have gladly watched more.

Is the show complicated? Yes. Unrealistic? Yeah. Is it over the top dramatic? Absolutely.
But it's exactly what its supposed to be. I'm going to keep recommending it, and I will without a doubt be back for a rewatch.

Leia Mais