Love Battle (2023)

Just relax and enjoy it

Yeo Mi Ran (Kim Ok Bin) is a lawyer by day and a street fighter. She has no interest in dating and is very competitive among men. Nam Kang Ho (Yoo Teo) is a movie star who doesn't have much faith in women. In his new role, he needs coaching to fight naturally, and Mi Ran gets to train him through them agreeing on a fake dating relationships. Despite their shared disbelief in love, their relationships grow as they spend more time together.

This is short, light, and has a lot of funny scenes throughout the ten episodes! A fake dating plot that fit perfectly with the enemies-to-lovers trope. The romance was nicely developed and gave a lot sweet and swoon-worthy moments. The friendships are fun to watch. Good job to all actor for their natural acting. They carried the show together, no one is more dominant than the others.

It’s nice that the drama also focused on some problems in society regarding the patriarchal beliefs about women. Even though Mi Ran was a feminist, the story was not at all anti women/men, they made it entertaining while still delivering their messages. Overall, delightful from beginning to end, filled with chemistry with some cute and sexy moments, and just a tiny bit of angst.

Mar 2024, Yovita
me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Honestly, a breath of fresh air, funny, satirical and realistic

I had high hopes going into this drama, after seeing the trailers and the actors and actresses set to appear in Love to Hate you.

There are a lot of corny and overdramatized romantic comedies out there today and I thought that Love to Hate you did an excellent job subverting those expectations. It gave us a legitimately funny and heartwarming show. It was a realistic depiction of an adult romance.

Our female lead is is played perfectly by Kim Ok Bin. She is a strong-willed woman who will not let herself be defined by the standards of society. She even says herself, she is not the “damsel in distress” waiting for the hero to save her. This is obviously a refreshing character arc for a female lead in Korean dramas. She is totally hilarious and leans into her role as the life of the party. If you’re looking for a strong female lead who not only competes in a male-dominated space, but excels in it, she’s here.

Her opposite Yoo Teo, also plays a believable, vulnerable man, who is weary of women. He is likeable, down-to-earth and easy to root for.

I honestly don’t want to go into it and spoil too much, as Kim Ji Woon and Go Won Hee, also play fantastic roles. Furthermore, the cast is filled with supporting characters that have their own stories and don’t detract from the main plot. I felt that this show was keenly aware of the usual tropes that romantic comedies fall into and used that for comedic effect. I thought it was also provided interesting commentary of the toxicity of the celebrity fandom, netizens and the internet. Nevertheless, Love to Hate you is short mini-series and an easy watch.

I can’t recommend this show enough. If you liked Business Proposal, I feel that you would enjoy this too. It’s fun, lighthearted and will definitely bring you back to the time when you first found someone you fell in love with. Watch this show!

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I love absolutely everything about this series. I love the fact that our female leads are in their late thirties. I love the fact that our male leads are in their forties. I love the fact that it depicts a huge variety of male and female personalities I love the female empowerment aspect without being overbearing. I love that the men are still manly, yet also have a sensitive side. I love the music, the storyline, the acting. This series might have bumped its way to my number 3 spot behind What's Wrong with Secretary Kim and My Roommate is a Guhmeo. Very well done.

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A Woman who Hates Men with A Man who Hates Women

It's a light romantic comedy with a goofy oddball FL lawyer who is a talented vigilante street fighter and a ML who is a famous romance KDrama celebrity actor repulsed by women. At ten episodes, the storytellers kept it long enough to get your fill of RomCom with the build up of the romance but short enough you don't get bored with filler junk. The story isn't complicated and is fairly simple; its main focus is on the antics of the FL, the romance, celebrity culture, and the friendships. It's not groundbreaking but it has a FL who doesn't fit neatly into the conservative Asian female norms. The FL's character is structured in a way that takes a sly swipe at S. Korean gender politics. There's also quite a bit of bromance between the ML and his SML manager with some staged playful situations between the two. The SML manager and the ex-girlfriend of the ML were both in Money Heist.

The FL and ML start off as enemies, she becomes one of his lawyers and they start collaborating in a contractual relationship and of course they have to fall in love. The build up of relationship was done well highlights are the scenes with her "training" him on how to fight for his new role. The FL breaks conventional conservative Asian feminine stereotypes. While she conforms to the East Asian expectations of beauty (she's pale, pretty, and skinny), she doesn't with her actions, thoughts, and behavior. Rather than being symbol of innocent female purity, she takes her revenge on cheating scoundrels by hooking up with some of them and dumping them whether it be one night stands or where she cheats on them while they are in a relationship. She has a mistrust of men and she dumps every man she's been with. She is also a vigilante street fighter who intervenes to help victims by beating the crap out of the perpetrator. The ML is a popular romance KDrama actor who is nothing like the roles he plays. He doesn't like women, has some anger issues with them, and has to take meds in order to quell his repulsion to get through his romantic scenes with kissing the leading ladies.

It's a fun drama to binge watch when you have some down time and want something that isn't serious or too thought provoking.

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Unexpectedly Delightfully

I am a huge Kim Ok Bin fan. The first time I saw her was in The Villainess, and she was brilliant -- a true villainess. And I have since enjoyed her in everything she's done, especially Children of the Lesser God. I have seen her master all kinds of roles, from an assassin to a future foreseeing police officer, to playing Tan Ya in the Arthdal Chronicles series, to a zombie-fighting detective. She is perfect in all of them, and what I love most is that she always plays a strong, badass female lead. Having read the premise of this drama, I wasn't sure if the role of Yeo Mi Ran would suit her, but I needn't have worried. She plays her so naturally that it is almost hard to separate the actor from the character.

Yeo Mi Ran is similar to many other female roles Kim Ok Bin has played in many ways. She is tenacious, headstrong, and righteous and does not let any man walk all over her or get too close. She is a lawyer, and by all accounts a very good one, but in her personal life is a true philanderess, never faithful to one man, and it goes back to her home life more than anything until she meets Nam Kang Ho (Yoo Teo), a famous actor in South Korea due to his handsome appearance, intelligence, and kindness. He is sought after to work in romantic movies but doesn't trust women, and he cringes at the mere thought of their touch to the extent that it leads to severe panic attacks controlled only by subscription medication.

Love to Hate You is a romance drama about a woman who detests male chauvinists and meets a borderline misogynist with a prejudice against women who at first hate each other, but as they slowly get to know each other, they are drawn to each other. Before they know it, they fall in love. And in many ways, their difference brings them together to make them the perfect couple. In a way, it's the typical hate-to-love drama, with a twist of a contractual relationship that leads to a full-blown romance. But what's different about Love to Hate You is that it intelligently handles sexism and prejudices against women, whether in the workplace, at home, or in relationships, and how society disguises it as culture or tradition, making it socially acceptable to keep women at a lower social status than men.

But what's intriguing about Love to Hate You is that it not only addresses misogyny but also brings awareness to manizing (women who pursue multiple casual relationships with different men) and the sexual double standard of a patriarchal society that glorifies, rewards, and even praises men for their womanizing way. In contrast, women are derogated and stigmatized for similar behaviors. Love to Hate You doesn't just stop there; it also sheds light on the complex landscape of the cancel culture and how fans are crucial stakeholders in the entertainment industry. Their passion, excitement, and involvement are pivotal in making or breaking the celebrity they have a significant hand in creating. In a way, holding them accountable for their actions, but in some cases, it can be extreme.

Many celebrities deserve to be canceled, mainly if the wrongs they engage in or have engaged in the past reflect their character (sexual assaults, bullying, prostitution, sex trafficking, emotional, mental, or physical harassment, abuse in the workplace or at home, etc.). Other than that, in my opinion, who a celebrity chooses to sleep with, love, marry, spend their time with, or how they live their personal lives is their business. As such, I loved how Love to Hate You addressed Yeo Mi Ran's manizing past and how Nam Kang Ho stands up for his love and doesn't give in to the pressures of his agency or fans. I hope some celebrities similarly and unfairly impacted by the cancel culture could learn a few things from Nam Kang Ho.

It would be a real mistake to assume that Love to Hate You is just another rom-com; it's far from it. Yes, it has some silly and funny moments, but it also has some profound moments that refreshingly push the boundaries in K-drama to question ridiculous, if somewhat offensive acceptable social norms; this elevates the show from your typical, expected rom-com to delightfully unexpected. Aside from the powerful message it sends, Love to Hate You brings some beautiful visuals in actor Kim Ji Hoon as Do Won Joon Nam Kang Ho's agent, protector, and friend; Go Won Hee as Shin Na Eun as Yeo Mi Ran best friend and fierce protector; Lee Joo Bin as Oh Se Na Nam Kang Ho's first love and many others who did a fabulous job portraying their different characters. Highly recommend it.

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Unique

This drama is definitely one of a kind and in a different league than other dramas. The bizarre story, along with good directing and synchronized acting, gives this drama a different vibe from the usual Korean dramas I've watched. The main key point while watching this is don't try to use a lot of brain cells to understand it and just enjoy whatever the drama throws at you.

To summarize the story, it's about a woman who is close to a Radical feminist who looks down on men and a guy who has trust issues with women and looks down on women. Circumstances led each other to fake-date each other, and they agreed despite their contradicting feeling for the opposite sex. Both of them aim to make the other person fall in love and later break their hearts. Little did they know that things won't go as they planned. Little by little they end up understanding each other and get rid of their prejudice against the opposite sex and learn to respect each other. Eventually, they end up facing hardships together as a beautiful couple. The story is laced with many misunderstandings. The way that the actors portrayed their characters was truly very refreshing. The leads are strongly supported by the second lead who also did an amazing job.

The female lead's feminist ideas can be very extreme at times to a point that she is paranoid but her mindset is created after growing up under a very sexist father and seeing her mother greatly wronged by his sexist ideas.

The male lead's revulsion towards women stems from an unsuccessful relationship.

The OST is good, the vibe is good and I binge-watched it through the night. A beautiful story (although unrealistic) and enjoyable. Def worth my time.

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Korean take on "She-Hulk: Misandry At Law"

Very overrated, 6.5 overall from me.
1. Too much bashing on men. It feels like Western feminist agenda creeped into this kdrama.
2. Unlikable, unrelatable "She-Hulk" of an FL. Her acting in romantic scenes also wasn't very convincing. Or maybe it's because a hard-headed, jaded, misandric character like hers made me question her feelings towards ML until the very end.
3. Cliche, brooding ML with tropey mental trauma, which of course only FL was able to "cure" ?. And since she's so special somehow out of the blue, of course he immediately falls in love with her. A bit better acting than FL, but still pretty meh overall, wasn't getting top star vibes from him.
4. Additional baggage from their family experiences also was offputting - every other family has issues like that, it's nothing special, and children don't become an exaggerated mess like these two. The way they tried so hard to shoehorn all of their problematic behaviour to bad, but rather trivial experiences of the past still makes me wish that they would just go see a therapist or something.
5. The plot itself also was nothing to write home about. A typical rom-com, if a bit outlandish (mostly because of FL) and cringey (ML's delulu ex contribution).

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Whatch this if you need a pick me up!

Perfect, cute, little romance drama. No dragging, no misunderstandings, just love.
What really got me was that the lead woman wasn’t this timid, little woman that needs saving but actually a woman that takes care of herself and isn’t afraid to lead. I appreciated that she was the one who initiated the kissing scene, because I’m just so tired of women always being the shy ones.
And the fact that there wasn’t misunderstandings!!! I’m ready to marry the scriptwriter, because THNAK YOU!! As soon as I feel that there will be the miscommunication trope in a drama that I’m watching, I drop it immediately, because life is too short for that.
also the male lead knew his feelings, want afraid of them and went for it, I wish we all could do that in real life.

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Cute and Lightweight romcom

So, I just finished binge watched it. Here’s my review:



Cast:
I decided to watch this mini series because of the “Male Cast” Teo Yoo and Kim Ji Hun. Both are hot af

The chemistry between the Main Lead seem natural to me, But TEO YOO!!! He’s great at leading the their “lovey dovey” scenes, the way he talks and body language throughout the series are natural. Their overflowing chemistry during their romantic scenes got me screaming and giggling because of how cute it was. Because holy moly they’re really cuteeeee!!

Teo Yoo the ML is always look down on girls due to his past. He thinks that girls are weak, only care about guys money, but then he meet the FL which he have never meet any girls who’s like her, she’s the opposite of how she think of girls are

Kim Ok Vin, I think she’s great for portraying her Independent, Brave, No Bullshit character. the FM hates men and always doubtful of men intention towards women because of how her dad treat her mom (patriarchy). Tbh, I was rooting for her in early episodes when she’s so cool with sleeping around, acting nonchalant to men. Because sleeping around is identically MEN thing, but our FL proof them wrong. She can sleep around without catching any feelings.

But I cringed at first how drastically she changed when she’s finally in a relationship with ML. Love can make you do cringy things you’ve never done before. I’m talking about the aegyo lol, it’s cringed but I feel relate because people know her as a badass woman and she don’t need no man, but god knows that all the independent women out there is actually waiting for a man like the ML.

I don’t have any complain about the Cast acting, although I wish Kim Ji Hun was paired with his co-star from Money Heist (which is not) and a pity, The FL best friend’s cool but I’ve always don’t like her in almost all of her dramas. But I still couldn’t get over when Kim Seon Ho is her love interest in Strongest Delivery Man.


the STORYLINE/PLOT is lightweight

I love the Leads characters and their BFF relationship. It’s a fast-paced drama but towards the end they kinda rush it so they can complete it in 10 eps. Since I love hate to love trope, I’d give this a 8/10 for the hate-to love trope. I feel like if they could make this to 12-16 eps, it’ll be more fun and more in-depth the characters are. I feel like we only see the glimpse of their characters. I mean they could dig deeper of the characters. Because I like the theme “feminist and the patriarchal storyline”

Also the BFF love storyline is unnecessary for me, IMO it’s a bit forced.

BUT I’M QUITE SATISFIED WITH THE DRAMA, I’d rewatch it again for sure when I’m sad or need something to cheer me up when I feel like my love life is empty, or a mess because I feel bit relate with the FM character.

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Light Rom Com with an Unconventional Heroine

The 'God of Romance' can't stand women and the FL punishes men by seducing them. The story is not new, the leads misunderstand each other, work together and fall for each other. Throw in a love contract and separation due to circumstances. However the situations created and the reaction of the cast to these situations is hilarious.
Kim Ok Bin is brilliant as a competent human being and Tae Yoo plays an effortless superstar. The leads have amazing chemistry. The second leads provide good support to the leads.
FL is fearless and independent fighting prejudices against women while being wary of men, ML on the other hand has had his fair share of bad luck with women and is literally repulsed by them.
It is refreshing to watch the FL beat the sh*t out of ML, there was no big moment of love, just the leads being extremely funny together and a delight to watch. Interesting contribution by SML to bromance, good friendship between the FL and SFL. This 10 episode drama is wholesome, funny and endearing. Welcoming more skinship in k dramas, and even more independent female leads.

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had me giggling

honestly.. i really enjoyed this series. i remember watching it a year ago, it was a series i always looked forward to whenever i was done with classes or needed something to watch when i was eating or just bored in general. i am a SUCKERRRR for enemies to lovers. but the fact that they sprinkled a little fake dating in there had me undeniably hooked.

INDEPENDANT WOMEN!!!! LIKE YES WE LOVE THAT I'LL EAT IT UP EVERY TIME!!

the comedy in lthy was comedying and the romance was romancing. i felt almost painfully single, it is genuinely one of my favourites.

I BEGGG PLEASE WATCH THIS!! IT'S SO GOOD

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Not for traditionalists!

If you throw What’s wrong with secretary Kim, Business proposal and Strong woman Do Bong Soon in a pot, the Love to hate you will probably be the result!
If you like smart badass women and kind and brave men - you must watch it (and read below).
If you are traditional patriarchal type, who believes girls have to be weak and modest, borderline dumb but pretty and the boys have to be the hero of the society - don’t waste your time, it won’t be your cup of tea.

Dressed as a typical rom-com, this drama deals with very real and hot topics such as sexism, gender equity, cancel culture, social media harassment, right of privacy, and so on! All of it shown with lots of hilarious scenes and really swoon worthy moments!
Wrapped in just 10 episodes it shows the struggle of two people traumatized by the two side of the same social problem.
The FL is a smart and strong lawyer who rebels against the gender inequality. She fights, dates freely, and refuses to be seen as weak/shy/dumb girl.
The ML is successful actor who has anxiety being with a women. Yet when he gets over it, he is judged for his lover.
There is a reason behind their condition/behaviour, yet they face the reality being judged by the society.

Apart from the social issues, this drama is very light and binge worthy.
It is pure joy to see some real, modern day dating behaviour and not the dead fish kiss scenes of so many other Kdramas.

Personally, I started watching it because I read 2 completely opposite reviews. One was saying it is a very funny, light and binge worthy drama that deserves 10 stars and the other who hated it, gave 1 star and accused the FL of being a slut.
Such differences in opinions for the same thing is quite curious.
First episode is yes, provoking some mixed thoughts but then everything unfolds and takes its place. To me, it deserves 10 stars and is TOTALLY worth it!

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