Love Battle (2023)

Love to hate relationship

This is a show, I can say I have a "hate-love relationship", hate and trash the characters but love the story🐻

The characters have lowkey trash mindset on certain topics, but that's precisely what sets this show apart—they're raw and real, unlike the typical sugar-coated leads.

This reminds me of lakorns, except without the constant screaming 🤣 The show is wild, prejudiced, biased, sexist, misogynistic, and what not, but it does provide a somewhat realistic portrayal of human behavior. Specifically, it acknowledges that people with such attitudes exist, both among men and women.

My favorite part was FL's character; she was independent, hardworking, and had a great deal of self-respect for herself. Although I didn't always agree with ML's opinions, he still had endearing qualities, and I appreciated his character growth by the end of the show.

This is the NOT a type of show where you hear comments like "Oh, ML is such a nice person," or "He does so much for her," or "I want someone like him." Instead, it's about learning how people typically behave in the real world and not glorifying or romanticizing it, but rather calling it out for what it is.

Overall, one should watch it for the plot not characters because I was amazed by how non-cliché it was; it unfolded in ways I never expected. The characters do have problematic mindsets, but as I mentioned, it's reflective of how many people are out there. And the ending was satisfying!

Thank you for reading my review^^
END

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When this first premiered, everyone said it was pretty average. Now everyone's raving about it apparently. The leads have good chemistry, but it took all the way to episode 7 for this drama to hook me. The episodes before that were very boring. They were about half spent on the second couple, another quarter spent on FL's work life, with barely any time spent on the leads. It made me want to skip scenes in those episodes. Editing was strange and felt very choppy and pacing felt all over the place. Humor was so-so, I wouldn't watch this drama for the humor aspect alone. The FL was supposed to be kinda crazy because she likes to fight and that was the show's humor. It's also not really enemies to lovers, definitely not like the trailer and title portray, because the FL only hates him for a short time because of a misunderstanding that's easily resolved. ML never really hates her at all, in fact he fell pretty much instantly with just this one misunderstanding between them. It finally picked up and started focusing on their relationship in episode 7. Glad I watched but I wouldn't rewatch. Crazy Love is a much better enemies-to-lovers romcom in all respects if you're looking for a good one.

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To the point

What I liked a lot about this is that there wasn’t wasted episodes on clarifying pasts, nor present. The present (relationship) came into play for leads and it progressed beautifully. We didn’t have to worry about it happening fast then the doom to come. There’s a hiccup but resolved quickly and favorably in such a way to strengthen the leads love.

Cast are great. Kim Ok Bin, I was not familiar with, but I’m a fan. Her character is great, straightforward, and bad ass, literally. Yoo Teo, main guy is the matured actor in the act that is honest and kind. His bromance with his manager and best friend played by Kim Ji Woon is the kind of friendship we crave for.

I don’t want to make this long because so many have greatly reviewed this. I’m just adding on that is a great watch. Don’t let this one pass you by. You’ll miss out.

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Fun rom-com with a baddass female lead

Enemies to lovers? Fake dating? Male lead with an illness/trauma that the female lead magically cures? You got it! This has every cliché k-drama trope in it but it's done right. Light, engaging and funny from the beginning to the end.
Things I absolutely loved about this show:
1. Ms. Choi Soo-Jin
2. Fl who beats people up.
3. Fl and Ms.Choi's camaraderie.
4. Second ml's hair.
5. Ms. Choi.
Oh did I mention Ms. Choi?

All the actors did a great job and the chemistry between the leads was great too.
There were a few scenes where the fl made me roll my eyes but she makes up for it by kicking ass!
And I'm very happy to tell you (this is very important to me) , I didn't die from the cringe! In fact, this had no cringy scenes at all and it was a nice surprise.

We have a straight forward fl and ml who don't beat around the bush and actually communicate about what they want. The mature relationship they had was nice to watch.

Loved the stunt scenes too. I was hoping the movie director would talk in the end but I was disappointed.
I wish we could've seen more of the fl handling cases and beating up thugs.
Those were the only disappointing things about this drama.

This year has been great for rom-coms. First Crash course in romance and now this one!
More Rom-coms of middle-aged people please!!

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It should have been called Love to Play You

If you don't want to take the time to read my long-winded review, I can recommend this show if you want over-the-top characters. Sometimes the characters seem like caricatures of real people, but that is for comedy effect. This rom-com could actually be called a rom-com. There was romance and a lot of comedy, which is refreshing if you are trying to cleanse your palate after a serious show.

There were a number of things I liked about this show:
-Yoo Teo as Kang Ho. I enjoyed the way the actor played the part (doppelganger for Ok Taec Yeon, so what's not to like?!) as well as the way his character was written. I liked him almost from the start, he was wound a little tight, granted, but quickly redeemed himself.
-Kim Ji Hoon as Won Joon. Him and his beautiful head of long hair! I liked the way his character struggled to straddle the line between manager and friend, not always being successful. When, in the last episode, he said to 2FL "Are we still in our same life?" that gave me all the feels.
-Kim Sung Ryung as Soo Jin. I love her in everything I see her in. With her distinctive voice and the way she always plays slightly off center, I always enjoy her performances. I loved the character she played here - being the underdog and then standing up for the underdog. She seemed like the kind of woman that never had a woman friend before, and was glad of her friendship with Mi Ran.
-That it was only 10 episodes. It wasn't long and drawn out, with tons of filler.
-The playfulness of Kang Ho and Mi Ran in later episodes. Their chemistry was fire.
-The director that didn't speak throughout the whole show.
-The last episode was cute. This made me rate it a bit higher than I was planning to.
-The lawyers in Mi Ran's office, including the ex-boyfriend. What a misogynistic bunch of Neanderthals, but they redeemed themselves in the best way at the end.
However, there were some things that I didn't care for:
-The character of Mi Ran. Throughout this show, I didn't like her. First, her saying that she'd been with 100 men. I struggle with this in romances (for the women AS WELL as the men). Romance is about finding that one special someone. I've heard that you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince, but that doesn't mean you have to sleep with them. Her reasoning for sleeping with them was lame, and as a potential partner, I'd insist upon a clean bill of health before I got too close. I was hoping for some hate turned to love (tricks played on one another, etc.), but that wasn't the case. She found out early on that he wasn't the way she thought he was, but even after he confessed his feelings, she was still playing him. She continued to talk about a 3-month (maybe a year) relationship limit, and her not wanting to get married made me feel like she wasn't totally committed to him. They were awfully cute together toward the end, but I still felt like she wasn't willing to totally trust and invest in the relationship.
-The massive amounts of drinking done.
-It is possible to portray a woman being strong without her being a b*tch and beating people up all the time. I felt like she needed to get some anger management counseling.
-Why, oh why, do they need to bring in an ex-girlfriend all the time?!?!

I really struggle with shows where one of the main characters is not likable. That affects my enjoyment of the show in a big way.

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A character’s story

This has some of the best character development ever written. Each character starts out with deep seated and earn prejudices. Through mature dialogue the characters begin to see things from a different point of view.
The writers pull out all of the stops to bring forward a story that not embroiled with jealousy, backstabbing, and petty behavior. The main couple overcome adversity with maturity and humor.

The story is simple and basically unoriginal (but what story hasn’t been told a hundred times already). What sets this one apart is really understanding how an individual character comes together with another to create a true companionship with someone they were originally closed off from. Their relationships are refreshing and delightful.

This one will show you that with open and honest communication relationships can stand against any storm. Misunderstandings can destroy happiness, therefore communication is essential. That is what this drama brings that most purposefully avoid.

It is was incredibly fun to watch.

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Girl crush

I enjoyed this drama very much.

Mi Ran was definitely my favorite character. She was so strong, independent, smart, multi-talented. I loved how she exceeded at everything she did, her job, her side gigs - she was so funny and I loved watching her. I was thinking of a headline and 'girl crush' is really the only thing that comes to mind for my overall review of this drama. When I watched episode 1, that's the word I kept repeating over and over again whenever Mi Ran came on screen. Kim Ok Bin acted really well with this character.

Kang Ho was a funny character too and very adorable/relatable at times. He was so full of himself in the beginning but it was cute/funny to watch.

I loved all the side characters too - the company CEO was such a funny character, loved his bromance with Kang Ho. Even the Gilum Law firm employees were actually really fun to watch too. I was thinking they'd be misogynistic twats because it's an all-male law firm but everyone was pretty cool and unserious so they were fun to watch as well.

The only thing that fell short a bit for me was 1) - the chemistry in some of the playful sex scenes the leads had and 2) - the last episode.

For 1): Both Ok Bin and Yoo Tae definitely had chemistry, no doubt about that. But there were some scenes (really just one or two scenes, I think) where they were being playful with each other that just looked a bit..awkward (?) to me. Like, it just felt more like they were playing a couple that was being playful and less like a natural thing that they were doing. I only felt this way in a few scenes between them. For the most part, the chemistry between the two leads was HOT AF so it's not like I got that awkward feeling throughout the drama. So this point is very very miniscule but still just wanted to mention it.

For 2): I already gave a short review of my feelings on episode 10, but to expand on it - I'm just a bit dissapointed at the direction they decided to go with how Mi Ran reacted to the public's opinion of her. For all 9 episodes, we've come to know Mi Ran as this strong woman who stands up for her ideals and doesn't cower in the face of opression, but then when the public comes at her for her past history, she decides to break up with Kang Ho (the second time!) - even though Kang Ho was ready to give up everything for her at the moment. Like honestly, realistically, I know breaking up makes sense, because most of us have seen how knetz/public opinion has ruined lives of people through canceling and whatnot...but 1) this is a drama not reality and 2) in the context of this drama, more specifically, in the context of Mi Ran's personality, I was hoping for a change not another cliché where the couple breaks up because they cannot handle the negative press. I just wish the writing was different and the public didn't make a big deal out of her past in the first place when it was revealed or at the very least, since we know public opinion will always be bad in those kinds of circumstances, I was hoping at least they would show us a refreshing character that decides to say "F- you" to the public instead of giving in to them. I'll give them credit, there was one scene where Mi Ran did stand up for herself but they still had to break up so I was just fed up. If even a character like Mi Ran cannot handle public opinion, who can? Sigh.

I look forward to watching a drama where the couple continues to stand strong in their love despite the circumstances until the stupid public realises that they are the problem. Or until we reach a point where writers don't need to use public opinion as a trope to create drama and drive a wedge between couples in the first place.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Anyway, don't take my above rant to mean I didn't like this drama. I really did enjoy it. All 9 episodes were so fun to watch and my mood was only dampened for a few minutes of the last episode so that's not a bad ratio. It all can't be great, I guess.

If you're in the mood to laugh and watch a strong female character that makes you feel refreshed and you want to watch a sweet romance blossom between a beautiful couple, then look no further!

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Classic Romcom done right... with some flaws

I binge-watched this show in one sitting, which is something I hadn't done in a long while (due to lack of time or engagement with a show/some shows I watched while airing, etc.), so it's needless to say that I loved 'Love to Hate You' to bits and was hooked since the very first ep.

I really liked the whole idea and concept, I'm personally a huge fan of the fake dating & enemies to lovers trope, and I am a feminist who advocates for women's rights and speaks up against gender discrimination, and all topics related to it. So you can definitely say that this show catered to me quite well. I don't really have many issues with it because I think the characters were well-built and the plot, although uncomplicated, advanced smoothly and didn't leave any loose ends.

However, there are some things that bothered me throughout the show and I haven't seen anyone mention them. The whole show is built around feminism, gender discrimination, and misogyny presented in different environments and situations, and I think they did a pretty good job at it, but at some points, it felt like the show was trying to give a "not all men" type of narrative. It's very subtle, so it doesn't surprise me that people haven't mentioned it or even noticed it, but there were some dialogues and actions that felt contradictory considering what the drama is essentially about. An example of this is when Miran tells Naeun not to judge handsome men anymore based on her past experiences because some handsome men are actually alright. I'm not saying this is wrong, but it gives this "not all men" vibe that I don't think matches the theme of the show. Wonjun also said something like that at some point and it rubbed me the wrong way as well.

The other thing that bothered me about this show is that the entire plot is based around the concept of "I'm not like other girls." We have a sexist male lead who was attracted to this very odd and particular woman, which is completely fine and I absolutely loved her character, but even after they got together and were already lovey-dovey, he kept saying things like, "you're not like other women, all the women I knew were like this or that, women are usually this or that," etc, etc. Of course, this was his own personal experience with the women that threw themselves at him, but I thought that would be dropped at some point in the show, or that maybe Miran would say something like, "just because I'm not like that doesn't mean I'm better than them, or that they're bad women," or something along those lines. They made Kangoh a victim of the evil women and after a while, it was very overused. Actually, the only women in the show that aren't evil or airheads or gold-diggers, or similar, are the female lead and the actress. Even Miran's friend was first "too soft for her own good," but this is a trait attributed to "weak" or "dumb" women. That Grace girl was shown as only being Wonjun's friend because she wanted to be something more one day. The ex-girlfriend was, well, the main evil. And I could go on and on about the supporting female characters. I just think that pretending to make a show about feminism and anti-sexism, but adding so many stereotypically flawed female characters is, once again, contradictory to what the show attempts to speak against.

Still, I think this is one of those rare romcoms done right that are very scarce today, unfortunately, even despite my criticism. I really loved it and enjoyed every second of it (I literally watched this all night long back to back and I'm writing this review in the morning at a time when I should've already slept and woken up, but alas).

So if you're a sucker for simple shows that will give you butterflies, and make your heart flutter, this is definitely for you. The characters are good-looking, they have great chemistry, and the plot advances fast and doesn't drag out anything. I personally enjoyed it a lot despite my little complaints.

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Speed version Rom Com

Rom Com with all the classic moments but in a less cheesy way

Refreshing Rom Com:
1. FL is a bad ass that apparently can do anything and everything
2. FL runs like an athlete. Fight stunts well choreographed. I laughed so hard they were exaggerating the running awkwardly part.
3. ML speaks English fluently, adds to his sexiness
4. Manager guy reminds me of a Korean Judd Nelson (hair & vibe not actual features of course) <--- Anyone else think so?
5. There's still the classic piggy back ride but not cheesy: She's legit was injured and not like "opps I fell because I didn't know how to tie my shoes right so ML needs to tie shoe lace & carry her"
6. There's still the fish lip kissing scene but at least characters not a middle age still experiencing her 1st kiss story line
7. The shooting of a movie scene was a throw back to 80s Asian Gangster movie. They even got familiar Cantonese Song in the background. Reminds me of "A Better Tomorrow" movie with Leslie Cheung song?
8. The non talking director. His facial expressions cracked me up

What could've been better:
It's only 10 episodes so everything had to be sped up so you if you like more character development then just watch at .5 speed..... Like kissing usually is in ep 7 of your standard 16 ep dramas but got to speed that up.
Her Bestie, I am not sure her character worked for me at all. A good supporting side story had zero time to really develop.

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