This web drama is like cotton candy. There is conflict and misunderstandings and a real uncertainty about who she's going to end up with at the end, but it's all so easy and pleasant to watch. The makeup tutorials are also a really nice touch. Obviously, they are the whole purpose of the drama, but they don't feel weird or out of place or even all that much like product placement. They're nice and simple and suitable for a wide variety of people. You don't even really need to use Innisfree makeup to do them, even though that's the only brand used. You can very easily recreate these looks with any other makeup brand out there.

Leia Mais

I'm honestly quite shocked this drama has so many 9 and 10 star reviews. Not that other people aren't allowed to enjoy it if they enjoy it, but because I found this drama to be rather lackluster and underwhelming and not the most well plotted thing I've ever seen. I started it because 1) I was craving something thriller/mystery-esque, a new drama craving for me as I've stuck mostly with rom-com drama's up until recently. 2) I'm forever a Seo In-Guk fangirl, and I want to watch as much of his projects as possible. 3) I quite like Jang Nara as an actress, and I quite like her role choices. 4) It had been sitting on my to-watch list since it first aired, and since the thriller/mystery drama bug had finally bitten me, I figured this was as good a time as any to sit down and watch.

I will say, the first half kept me fairly invested. It wasn't anything unique or ground-breaking, but I don't need that for me to like a drama. You just have to sell me the story, and for the first half of this drama, the writers did just that. I lost interest in the over-arching mystery halfway through though, as it went from engaging and interesting to poorly plotted and boring. There was some hinking around with character motivations that didn't work for me, things never quite connected in a way that made sense, and the main villains were not the slightest bit interesting in their adult forms. I can unequivocally say that I found both villains unendurably boring as grown ups. They never Did anything, and yet we were supposed to be terrified of them. They were also such Polar opposites of their younger selves that I had a very hard time believing they were the same people. Of course, this would make sense in the case of the younger brother considering what all he must have experienced growing up, but there was zero time spent on showing us just what growing up under the terrifying watchful eye of a psychopath might morph and change you into, and I don't understand why. The main villain does end up having a really well-thought out backstory that really adds to his overall creepiness, but it only makes his Younger self more scary, not the older version. For some reason, the older version seemed more confused about what feelings are and how they work then he did psychotic murdery. You definitely don't get the feeling that his younger self experienced any sort of confusion around emotions and their purpose in life. I got the feeling that he didn't really care.

The romance is mostly uninspired, but again, that doesn't necessarily ruin a drama for me if the writers can sell it to me, and I was onboard for the pairing. I think the combination of bad plot, boring villains, And and ultimately uninteresting romance is what ultimately did this drama in for me.

In my opinion, both Seo In-Guk and Jang Nara have been in, and have done, better things. Of course, if everyone else loves this drama, then who am I to stop them? Hopefully, my next thriller/mystery drama will be something I like a little bit better.

Leia Mais

This drama is a classic for a reason, the exact kind of rom-com, melo, crack drama most drama lovers search for. It's got the quirky, persistent, lovable female lead who Stays quirky and persistent and lovable the entirety of the story. It has a male lead who Starts the drama as an actually humane, likable person with a decent moral compass (although more on that later). The premise, while completely implausible, is still a lot of fun full of hijinks and mishaps and fun bonding moments. And like many rom-com/melo's from it’s time (and many modern rom-com/melo's as well, to be honest), it utilizes the ‘drag the main conflict out far longer than necessary’ trope for the sake of creating conflict, but of all the classic dramas that rely on this trope, this is definitely one of the better ones.

Unfortunately, that last point is exactly the reason why I ultimately had to drop this drama, despite all of the other wonderful things about it.

The lie starts out fun, harmless, then reality sets in and our leads begin to understand the age-old saying 'Oh what a tangled web.' And that's fine. The lie Should become a weight around their necks that they have to struggle with until they eventually throw it off in exchange for the truth. It just. Takes. Too. Long. for them to cut the rope keeping the weight tied to their necks. There's No reason, past about episode 11/12 (and that's honestly too long for my tastes, but I'm trying to be reasonable here), for the lie to continue. And before anyone starts shouting 'But then there's no conflict driving the rest of the drama!' I'm not saying they should have ended up together by ep 13, leaving three episodes as unnecessary filler. There was plenty of conflict to mine from the reveal of the lie that would have pushed the drama forward for another few episodes before our leads could get their happy ending. Grandpa could oppose the relationship because it started with a lie, a lie that ultimately hurt the rest of the family in one of the deepest ways possible (which, from reading spoilers about the last three episodes, is sort of what happens in the story anyway, just in an unbearably rushed way). They could have been separated for a time in punishment for their actions and maybe spent some of that time both atoning and pleading on their love's behalf. Hell, they could have just have a big, knockout, drag out fight about it and 'broke up' for a couple of episodes. There was just no reason for the lie to live so long.

But what's worse than the lie lasting longer than it deserved to is what it ultimately does to our leads. It ruins a lot of what was so good about the male lead at the start of the drama. Gong Chan is extremely honorable and responsible and decent in the first half (minus the lie about his cousin). He's obviously not the sort to lie before the drama starts, and he creates the lie out of a desperate, misguided desire to do good. And as I said about the importance of the lie becoming a weight around their necks, I also think it's important that we see the lie change him and turn him into the sort of person who would betray his family, the woman he loves, his own self for self-serving reasons. But the drama never actually explores this. It just makes the lie go on forever like the song that never ends, and by the end, you just don’t like Gong Chan that much any more.

It's sort of the opposite of what most old-school dramas do with there male leads where they take a horrible person and make them a kinder human. This time, they took human who was already kind and made him terrible.

Alternatively, the lie doesn't turn Yoo Rin into some sort of terrible person but rather into a more sympathetic, conflicted, incredibly sad character. It doesn't take away her spunk, but it severely dampens her personality. And again, this is exactly how I think it Should have played out. While either of them could have ended the lie if they really wanted to, and ultimately, they are both to blame for not doing so, I can understand Yoo Rin's difficulty with it more than Gong Chan's. She has more to lose by ending the lie. Gong Chan could lose the woman he loves, but he'll still have his family at the end of everything. They might be angry with him for a very long time, but underneath that anger will be love. Yoo Rin doesn't have that luxury. When the lie ends, she is left with nothing. Not the man she loves, not the family she's come to love, she's back where she started, homeless and now with no idea where her father has ended up. What's interesting about that is that out of the two of them, she's also clearly the one desperately Wanting to end the lie the most but continuing to agree to keep the ruse going because she cares so much for Gong Chan and for his family.

And this is where the drama lost me in terms of her character.

More than anything else in this drama, I wanted the story to spend time exploring Yoo Rin becoming close to the family emotionally and how it must have made her feel lying to them the closer she got to them, but the drama never does that. It sidesteps this entirely. We see her feel bad about the act of lying itself, feeling guilty over what they are doing to each other and to Gong Chan's family, and we see her spend lots of time with the family, all of them genuinely coming to like each other and enjoying being in each other's company. But there’s very little discussion over how much of a toll lying to these people that she's come to care deeply about must be having on her. She has to be lying awake at night thinking about how terrible grandpa is going to feel when the lie is revealed, how much the entire family is going to hate her for what she's done, how when it's all over...they won't love her anymore. This is where her habit of eating when she feels guilty could have played so much more of a prominent role than it did. What better way to show the guilt and shame she must feel over lying to so many people.

And I'm about to say something I can't believe I'm about to say, but I think this is the first time I’ve wanted the evil second female lead to Succeed in her pursuit of being evil. Not because I didn’t want the leads together or because I had any love for the second female lead (Dear God In Heaven No). I wanted her plans for revealing the lie to succeed...because I wanted the lie to end so the leads could finally, bloody get together. I wanted them to face the repercussions of their decisions, and I wanted them to get together and be happy, because I really liked them as a couple.

But neither of them could ever muster up the moral courage to end the lie, and the writers kept thwarting the second female lead at every turn, thus denying me the relief I was so desperately seeking.

And now I'll end my complaints by turning everyone in the drama community against me by saying that the secondary male lead is exactly the sort of pesky second male lead that I sort-of, kind-of, maybe hate in most dramas where they appear. I know a lot of people really enjoy their second lead feels, and that most secondary male leads in older dramas are just significantly better people than the male leads are, and that's cool and all, but I typically don't experience second lead feels. When a drama writer tells me who's supposed to end up together at the end, I believe them. I put all thoughts and ideas and secondary options in a drawer somewhere, and I invest in the main couple, because I want the writers to make their couple work. When I Can't invest in the main couple, I generally just don't invest in the drama at all, and I go watch something else.

On the rare occasion that I Do experience second lead feels...I ignore them, because I can't handle that kind of pain in my life.

So yeah. The second lead quickly went from roguish fun to obnoxious irritation for me. It's 100% hypocritical of me to feel this way about persistent secondary male leads when I often adore persistent female leads, but when there's an established couple in a drama and a secondary male lead refuses to accept it (and this goes for secondary lead feels too), I want to hit him over the head with a frying pan.

Part of me, even still, wants to finish the last three episodes of this drama, but I know I'll still be dissatisfied when they're over. So I have to accept it. It's just not worth it for me.

Leia Mais

I think the drama’s portrayal of what it’s like to be a 20 something looking for meaning in life and a place to belong is spot on. The stress of job hunting and job interviews. The frustration of working a job that’s not fulfilling and/or brings extra baggage. The pursuit of a dream that may or may not be attainable. The desire for life to have some kind of meaning. The writers really understand what it’s like to be in your 20’s and seeking purpose.

I also think the struggle of losing a family member was, apart from one moment, very tenderly and appropriately portrayed. I felt for each family member as they tried to deal with her death in their own unique ways, and I rejoiced with them when they finally came together as a family and made the choice to let go and move on.

Kim Sol is the cutest thing ever, and I want to be her best friend. She can do my nails, and I can…um…I can…well, I’d think of something, but it would awesome and wonderful, and I want it to happen now. Kim Seul Gi has been one of my favorite Korean actresses ever since I saw her in Flower Boy Next Door as the stressed, cranky, tired editor with the puffy eyes and big personality. The life she brings to her characters is contagious and really makes you want to like her.

Im Seul Ong is a hottie patottie and really makes me wish I liked 2AM’s music. (Me and Korean ballads? We don’t hate each other. We just don’t hang out.) His character, Seon Jae, was just so painfully sweet and shy, and I alternated between wanting to snuggle him and wanting to attack his face with mine. (I’m talking about kissing.)

The rest of the characters were fabulous and really made me wish I lived in the boarding house too. Think about all the fun shenanigans you could get up to?

There were really so many sweet and precious moments throughout this drama. I was squealing and flailing and just generally fangirling the entire time. When Seon jae helps Kim Sol lock the door to her nail shop. When they sit outside looking at the stars. When she takes him shopping for new clothes. That kiss. Everything was very real, very possible. Nothing felt unrealistic or over the top. You could see they were really falling for each other, and I didn’t feel like I had seen this same kind of relationship in another drama before.

I didn’t totally believe it when they started fighting with each other, because it was a rather abrupt change from all the ‘I like you. You like me. We like each other. Should we tell each other?’ pleasantness that had preceded it. I just wasn’t on board for the fighting, and I don’t think they were either. But it all worked out in the end, and my precious babies ended up together just like they were meant to.

This is definitely one of the best web dramas I've ever seen. It’s only 6 episodes long at 11 minutes each, so it’s perfect for when you’re in-between dramas or trying to introduce someone else to them or just want something short to enjoy. The story is sweet and realistic and really hit home with me, a 26 year going through my own quarter life crisis of trying to find a job I can do that I'm good at and find fulfilling. Just a great little series overall, and I recommend it to Everyone!

Leia Mais

This will not be a review. It will not discuss the quality of the acting or the filmography or the writing or the inventiveness of the story concept, and it will Definitely not help you decide to watch this drama. But it will probably help you decide NOT to watch it.

This...will be a Rant.

I hate this drama. It's been years since I watched it, and I still feel the same fiery passion of hatred for it as I did then. I was a new drama viewer in those days, and I didn't believe in quitting dramas. Every drama I started, I had to finish, even if I didn't like it. What if it got better? What if I missed something important? What if, what if, what if?! That is truthfully the only reason I finished Goong. I kept thinking it would get better.

The drama does get off to a good start, with tropes at their most enjoyable and crackling character chemistry and great story antics and so much potential. There is very much a reason why it was hugely popular when it came out, and why it still has a following today. But it quickly turned into hours of literal torture (this drama would make a supremely effective torture device) with a mean, selfish, practically impossible to like male lead, a conniving, malicious second female lead, Royalty rules designed to break the female leads spirit, the female lead losing all of her spark and determination, and angst so heavy you could cut it with a piece of paper. And I'll say it again, there is a reason it was so popular when it aired and why it still has a following today. Some people just enjoyed being tortured, apparently.

In my estimation, Goong is 100% the thing an inexperienced and naive teen girl would think is romantic. Which is why I'm glad I watched this after I was already an adult, because I could already see through all the nonsense. Totally upfront here, I am an unabashed fan of female characters who are feisty and spunky and upbeat and give the male lead a big ol' kick in the tooshy and are adorable while doing it. These kinds of female leads are considered passe now, offensive, relegated to the dark ages, but I love them and always will. So I loved the female lead at the start of this drama. She's got all of that plus that naive awkwardness that comes with being a teenager. And while the male lead is absolutely a turd, the purpose of these sorts of stories is for him to grow and change as a consequence of meeting the female lead. And I'm equally as big of a fan of that sort of story as I am this sort of female lead. Call me deluded if you want, but I believe in the power of redemption, especially as a consequence of love, and I enjoy watching it play out on my screen.

But (a massive turd-sized BUT), we never see this change in the male lead. We never see him grow, never see him acknowledge his behavior, never see him attempt to change. It's not even until the final hour that he actually admits to having feelings for the female lead, by which time, she wants to start having her own life. Which, of course, the drama conveniently finds a way to keep from happening because we can't have That. Clearly, the writers didn't know how to convey the scared, distrustful aspects of the male lead. He's supposed to be this closed off, insecure young man who doesn't know how to express himself and is afraid of being close to anyone but also desperately wants to be loved, hence why he's constantly pushing the female lead away and then pulling her back. If the writers had more of an attempt to convey that to the audience, I might not have such intensely negative feelings about this drama.

Ironically enough, I have been attempting to track down the original manwha this drama is based on, as despite how much I can't stand this drama...the overall story still pulls me in, and I want to see if it's improved in book form or not. Books are able to do something film can't, and that's let the reader in to the characters inner worlds so that we can understand them better, and something tells me this story would Greatly benefit from a peak into the male lead's inner world. I'm also just all in for characters who struggle in their relationships and with overcoming their own hang-ups. Fingers crossed reading the manwha is a better experience.

To anyone who loves this drama, more power to you. I'll just be over here sending Goong death glares.

Original Review:
No.

(I hate this drama so much I would rate it a zero if I could.)

Leia Mais

This drama shouldn't work. Truthfully, I'm not even sure if it does. It's odd, strange, confusing, sweet, humorous, light-hearted, quirky, illogical, satisfying, perplexing; a real head-scratcher. There are lots of really great messages about life and love and loss and purpose. There are sad events that really pull at your heartstrings and make you feel all the emotions associated with them. The leads are all Intensely likable and precious and wonderful. The dad wins dad of the year for Life.

There is also a lot of odd.

Akiko is like a block of wood 90% of the time with her expressions and mannerisms. Which is 100% intentional but you also never get used to it. They kill Miyuki's father off halfway through the story, which I knew was going to happen because spoilers, but it still was jarring (and devastating) to experience for myself. Once married, Akiko quits her extremely high paying job in order to be a stepmom then instead of going to back to her job after the father dies, she......stays home and does day trading. Then later on starts working at a bakery??? (I really don't understand her career trajectory.) They set up a potential romantic pairing for Akiko in the second half only for them to cut it off at the knees, lol. (And just when I was coming around to it!) Miyuki is like a completely different character as a teen compared to her child version, and it sticks out the entire time, but both versions are extremely likable, so I don't know what to do with that.

The story switches track multiple times, and every time on purpose, and I don't even know if I can criticize it for it because they clearly had a vision and went for it with all cylinders firing and even in the midst of my confusion, I was feeling all the feelings.

This drama's just an odd experience, and it does it in a way that only a Japanese drama can.

Leia Mais

Let me go ahead and tell you what you want to know now and say that this is a really good web drama and definitely worth watching. Great story, great acting, well paced, pleasantly realistic (minus the seeing the future part), fabulous music (I even bought the soundtrack, something I haven't felt compelled to do with dramas until recently), and an honest (if albeit limited) focus on the difficulties of the Kpop industry. For those curious about how Cha Eun Woo fares, I don't know if his acting is just getting better, or I've just come to understand and appreciate his acting style, but I found Eun Woo downright pleasant to watch. It probably helped that the drama addresses the criticism towards his acting by making his character a 'face' who is also criticized some for his acting, and his character even makes jokes about it, always in a lighthearted way.

My One and Only complaint.

The ending frustrates me. A lot. Everything is laid out so perfectly. Except for the romance which is left just kind of hanging. I. Do. Not. Do. That. Shit. Not that I'm against open endings. Open endings are perfectly fine if they make sense within the framework of the overall story, but it does not make sense here. People are saying that maybe there's going to be a second season, and that's why the ending is open ended. Well, I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but I Seriously doubt that's going to happen, even if it is a YouTube drama making the rules possibly different. Not saying that I wouldn't watch a season 2, because I would watch the Fool out of that. I'm just saying that's not going to happen, and it's best not to get your hopes up.

Which makes how the romance was left unfinished at the end all the more frustrating.

But barring that one aspect of the finale, this web drama is good, and I really enjoyed it.

Leia Mais

Misaeng is my favorite drama of all time. I think it's one of the most important Korean dramas to have ever been made. So it's saying something when I say that Age of Youth 1 and 2 rival my love for Misaeng. I love these dramas.

Season 2 manages to do what most sequels can't do, and that's be just as good as the first season. Even three cast changes can't stop this drama from hitting it out of the park. There's no one in this drama you hate, no one you can't relate to in some way. The story tackles a number of heavy topics with deft hands and a gentle gaze. And just like season 1, you find yourself wishing you could be part of this group of girls, because you'll never find better friends than them.

This is a ten-star drama, and you need to watch it.

FUTURE EDIT: I need to add a caveat here that I didn't in my initial review for reasons I don't know anymore, but there is one thing about this drama that disappoints, and that is the lack of conclusion to what was the most anticipated romance in both seasons to date. But I temper that disappointment with the reckless faith that that simply means we will be getting a season 3 where the romance will come to fruition and all will be well and happy and beautiful with the world. (FUTURE FUTURE EDIT: Ah, sweet, naïve, innocent me, thinking there could ever possibly be a season 3.)

Also, I rebuke that episode 7 urn epilogue in the name of Jesus Christ. Get behind me Satan.

Leia Mais

How to start this review. I'm not sure.

This drama doesn't really follow the typical set up with our leads. I won't say more than that so as not to spoil the story, but it's a good idea to not go into this one expecting things to play out a certain way.

I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. It was certainly a very confusing and frustrating thing, because I've come to expect my dramas to play out in very specific ways. (That's probably due to my limited experience with Japanese dramas over Korean.) But I came to understand, and honestly quite like, the very conscious writing decision by the end.

HOWEVER, I know from reading the comments on here that some people were disappointed with the ending, and I must say, that is a frustration I understand. Because, well, I'm disappointed too. I'm not unhappy with the end pairing, because I honestly feel like it makes the most sense. I'm also not unhappy with how all of the other potential suitors are treated and utilized in the story. I'm just not happy with the non-committal ending. You need to make a decision, writers. Yes or no.

That being said, I have very little in the way of other complaints. When the show turns heartfelt, the lessons are honest and true and hit you where it matters. (When it tries to give dating advice, it's mostly all nonsense, lol.) But it's those heartfelt lessons (and of course the story and all of the characters themselves) that make this drama worth watching. (Watching the dating advice mostly fall apart when applied is pretty funny too, lol.)

Side note: There's a time jump at the beginning of the last episode that I feel was pointless and kind of jarring, but I don't know if that's because of how it was utilized or because there was a bit of a pause between me watching episode 9 and then coming back to watch the last episode. It was only about 4 or 5 days, but it was enough time for me to no longer be in the same headspace as when I started the drama.

All in all, I mostly enjoyed this drama. I just wish the ending had been clearly defined. The drama brought us So close only to leave us hanging.

And I don't give tens for that.

Leia Mais

I'm gonna preface this review by saying that I have yet to finish this drama for the simple reason that a major plot point was introduced towards the end that infuriated me deep within my body, all the way down to my bone marrow, and I haven't mustered the strength to finish the last few episodes because of it. I will eventually go back and finish, if only out of loyalty to the main leads that I adore so much, but I'm pretty confident of my current opinion and don't think those last few eps are going to change it. (UPDATE: I did not finish this drama and currently have no plans of doing so. So there's that.)

The truth is, this was not a good season. The cases had a strange pacing to them, starting halfway through one episode and ending halfway through another. The big mystery from season 1 we were all expecting to get answers and a conclusion for....never went anywhere substantial. Instead, we were subjected to unnecessary twists and a bizarre new villain who felt totally out of place most of the season. And the romance! ThE RomANcE!!!! The romance showed so much promise! Things were looking so good! And then the writer didn't take it anywhere!!!!!!!!! Honestly, after the major plot twist I mentioned in the first paragraph that left me so infuriated, the romance is the thing I found the most disappointing about this drama.

I will forgive a drama for a lot of things if it at least keeps me invested in the romance.

You couldn't even do that, Queen of Mystery 2. You couldn't even do that.

I would be very surprised if this drama got picked up for a third season, and if that is what they were angling for with the way they chose to Write this season, then they really screwed themselves over. Because this season was dumb.

D-u-m-b, DUMB.

Leia Mais

Up front, I have to admit that I struggled with the pacing of this drama. I respect stories that move at a slower pace as I don't think there is anything wrong with a story doing so, so I can acquiesce that the problem is probably me, but it was a challenge in the first half of the drama to keep going. I kept waiting for our female lead to actually go camping with the whole group, and it doesn't happen till the very end of the drama. I found that disappointing.

But that being said, there is a lot about this drama that I loved. First and foremost, our really camping group of girls are incredibly fun. They're quirky and silly and just really humorous in how they interact with each other. I like the female lead as she's very thoughtful and quiet and clearly a little nervous about meeting new people, but my favorite scenes were of our little camping group as they planned their trips and drooled over expensive camping gear. Who would have thought a drama could make planning for camping look fun, lol?

The theme of the show is both relaxing and inspiring, and I'm honestly quite jealous of these girls getting go on all of these camping trips. I'm thinking I need to start planning some for myself. (Although I wouldn't be able to camp in winter as I have a chronic illness that makes me severely sensitive to cold weather. I would have to wait until spring/summer, lol.)

Of course, the food all looks delicious as well as simple to make. I'm definitely inspired to try and recreate some of the dishes, even though I'll probably have to get creative with some of the ingredients as I don't live in or anywhere near Japan.

Overall, I thought this drama was really good, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something wholesome and lighthearted and relaxing. Especially for any teens (or parents of teens) looking for shows that aren't glorifying things like teenage drinking or other reckless behavior but instead promote young people getting involved in fun and healthy activities. Let's make more stories for teens like this one.

Leia Mais