It was worth the watch (cute)

I kept looking for reviews that spelled out certain information, so this is for anyone wanting the following:
1) Episodes 1-18 take place in high school (not much in the way of "butterflies" during these episodes)
2) Episodes 18-19 are transition episodes (I'd say most of the tummy butterflies happen here)
3) Episodes 20-onward take place after high school (some butterflies, but not a ton; just kinda cute.)

All the main characters are likeable. The secondary characters are also likeable.
There is a wee bit of angst, and it is super well done. It also gave their story a lot more depth. But this is a cute love story, not a melodramatic one.

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Problematic and fun... two words that only go together in fiction

I've seen the Korean adaptation but none of the others. The actress's portrayal of the MFL in the Korean version made the character so pathetic, I wasn't able to finish the series. I honestly only watched this version for Dylan Wang. As an aside, I didn't realize they dubbed his voice in some of his drama until I watched Only For Love and heard his real voice (which I actually prefer). Anyway, enough about voices.

This story is problematic-ish. I add the "ish" because it's based on a comic book and everything is always over-the-top in comic books. Since this version seems to follow the original faithfully, the over-the-top scenes don't translate as well to TV/film as a medium. The acting is rather cartoonish (except when Dylan Wang does that eye thing, where he communicates all his thoughts with a single look; that's impressive as always).

This show is also addictive. Something is always happening until about episode 12, then it slows down a bit, which was good. I was getting exhausted from all the back and forth. The romance is drawn out to the N-th degree, thus I found binging 5 episodes at a time to be the right amount.

Basically, if you enjoy watching cartoonish, fun shows with over-the-top reactions by the ML and FL, this one is for you.

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Romance was 7.5, Bromance was a 10

The romance was pretty good. The ML and FL had solid chemistry, but the ML's tragic story and his portrayal of it carried most of the show and took over / overwhelmed the romance.
However, the real star of this drama was the bromance between the two male leads. Their friendship and their scenes (and their friendship chemistry) stole the show. I ended up fast forwarding all scenes just to get to the friendship side story.
Of note, the overall plot is a little convoluted, but-- like I said-- the friendship plot completely charmed and made up for (mostly) the other deficiencies. Not that you asked, but I didn't care about or have a favorite of the two potential love interests for the friend male lead and, other than enriching his character, that part fell flat (for me).

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I mean, I was sobbing

First of all, Seo Ji Hoon is absolutely mesmerizing in this drama. How and why is he not starring in every upcoming drama? He's SO AMAZING. What an incredible talent. I've watched 77 Kdramas so far and his performance was probably the best I've ever seen. I saw him in My Lovely Liar and he was stand out in that drama (he had a fairly minor role, but I remembered him). But in this one, totally blew me away.

I do feel like 99% of my enjoyment of this drama was Seo Ji Hoon. The rest of the cast did perfectly fine. The story had some unevenness but was mostly fine. Keeping it real: without Seo Ji Hoon in his role, this probably would've been a 6 instead of an 8 overall.

But because of the believability and excellence of Seo Ji Hoon's performance, this drama had me sobbing at the very end. I cried and cried and couldn't stop wishing he'd somehow come back. Ugh. So, so, so sad. I'm going to have to watch another drama with this actor ASAP.

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I guess I'm one of those people who need someone to root for

This incredible cast was wasted. I'm so disappointed. I had high hopes. That first episode with Kim Soo Hyun being drunk and crying about being cute, I thought, "This show is going to be so good!!" The first episode didn't hook me, but I thought for sure it was just a slow start and would get better.

Well, after 6 episodes, it was a complete slog. I tried. I really, really did. It took me 5 days to finish episode 6, I kept finding reasons to do other things. Not even Kim Soo Hyun could keep me engaged, and that makes me so sad. This was his first drama in YEARS. I feel cheated.

The issue was the story, I think...
Actually, I'm not sure. The overall story was interesting. I'll probably look up a spoiler review to find out what happens.

You know what I think the problem was? I had no one to root for. I didn't *like* anyone except the villain (and I only liked the villain because his scenes didn't put me to sleep). I didn't care what happened to any of the other main characters, they were so boring. I probably would've ended up rooting for the bad guy if I'd continued (because at least he was entertaining to watch).
Oh well.

I hope Kim Soo Hyun's next drama is better. :-\

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This show should be entitled, 'Leo Wu Being Ridiculously Romantic For 30 Episodes'

I don't have many complaints except the title doesn't do justice to the actual content of the show. This show is really just Leo Wu's character being ridiculously romantic and dreamy-eyed for 30 episodes. Yes, there was also a compelling, cohesive story/plot. Also yes, everyone else / the rest of the cast did a great job, the direction was great, the cinematography was great, the script/dialogue was REALLY great. Overall, great show.

The first 5 episodes, as others have mentioned, are a bit slow. Episodes 6-14 pick up the pace regarding the romance. Romance is the story, so billiards and pool as the background canvas for the story felt secondary but not an afterthought. It was executed well and I learned a bit about the sport.

But everything was a far, far second place to Leo Wu wooing the FML. If you enjoy romance as the main story, this one is your absolute best bet for 2024 (so far)

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It is PERFECTION

MDL needs to add a once-in-a-lifetime rating of "11 stars" because this drama would be 11 stars in every category.

Everything about this show is perfection. It's so perfect, I'm actually sad, because no show will ever be this good again. And the ending. THE ENDING!! I've never watched such a satisfying ending for any show. Ever. The ending was beyond satisfying. SO GOOD. (sorry for all the random shouting, but THE ENDING!! AHHH!!!)

1. Story: PERFECTION. 11 stars. I was on the edge of my seat with every episode, I never knew what was going to happen. Do you know how difficult that is with a time-slip? With a romcom? Every trope was used and subverted at the same time. I am in awe. And the dialogue? Chef's kiss. Perfection. No line wasted. This is the very first time I've ever watched a show and was glued to my screen every moment. So many twists and turns and plot threads to weave together. The biggest twist in my opinion is at the end of episode 2. If you're not addicted to this drama after the end of episode 2, I would be shocked. SHOCKED!

2. Acting / Cast: MORE THAN PERFECTION. ∞ stars (infinite). Whatever is past perfection, that's the main couple of this show. They united the world, including Knetz, and we are all actively rooting for them to have their own HEA. The behind the scenes clips are *almost* as addictive to watch as the show, that's how amazing their chemistry is.
And the acting is so beautiful. I was fully engrossed in a time-slip, fantasy romance. I believed every minute of it and the actors sold and served. UGH! I can't say enough. I've never seen anything like this in a Kdrama before, and I've watched a lot of Kdramas.

3. Music: PERFECTION. 11 stars. In case you didn't know, the lead actor actually sung the 5 ECLIPSE OST songs and they are now on my permanent top favorite playlist. The rest of the OST is so beautiful. Other standout songs for me on the soundtrack: 'Like A Dream' by MINNIE and 'Spring Snow' by 10CM. The rest of the songs are also beautiful and so good. But the 5 ECLIPSE songs and these two are perfection.

4. Rewatch value: MORE THAN PERFECTION. ∞ stars (infinite) While it was airing, I think I re-watched the earlier episodes every week, or more than once a week. I've never done that before. Not once. And, not just that, I didn't fastforward older episodes, I watched the whole dang thing each time. And I know I'll re-watch this drama often in the future because I already miss it so much. *cries*

5. Overall: MY FAVORITE KDRAMA OF ALL TIME: My other favorites include Healer, Alchemy of Souls, and Goblin if you want an idea of what this drama is up against. This one wins, hands down.

Seriously (and sorry, not sorry) but if you don't love this drama as much as I do, I'm not sure we can be friends.

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Loved some parts, disappointed by the lack of certain (closure) scenes

As I mentioned in my review of part 1: First, I have to mention the cast. This cast makes me want to go back to my previous reviews and reduce the star rating I've given to other dramas' casting. The casting in the drama is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!! I wish there were a once-in-a-decade "11 stars" option. Every single role was cast perfectly and the actors were perfection in their roles. Seriously, I have never watched a better cast drama than this. And a special shout out to the dude who played the emperor. He was an absolutely delight and perfect in his role.

Some parts of this drama were OUTSTANDING, and some were bitterly disappointing. I agree with other reviewers who said sections were extremely draggy. I'd say 40% of this second season was unnecessary slow-motion scenes and reaction shots. This I might've forgiven if the ending didn't feel rushed / unfinished. I was so disappointed in the ending-- especially since so much time was given to pointless side-stories-- that I knocked off 3 stars.

Worse, the ending makes me not want to re-watch any part of this drama again, it'll only remind me of what scenes weren't included (ultimately).

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You have to power-through the middle, but IT'S SO WORTH IT!!

I understand the set up, and that didn't bother me. Though there were a few times during the high school scenes I wanted to shake the FML and tell her to wake up. That said, the lead actress did an outstanding job of somehow making the main character cute rather than a doormat.
But then later, when they're in college, I legit wanted to stop watching because I was so irritated with how the main male character treated the main female character. The only reason I kept watching was to see if she FINALLY ended up with the second male lead.
BUT THEN!!!! OMG! The ending. THE ENDING!!! THE ENDING!!! The ending makes everything worth all the pain and struggle. I've re-watched the last several episodes a few times. Ahh!! It went from a 6.5 to a 9.5 because of the ending. Loved. It.

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Tugs at the heartstrings

The basic premise is a misunderstanding, which-- I know, I know-- everyone seems to be tired of "these kinds of stories." But the acting in this (especially the ML) was SOOOO well done. This is a perfect example of a tired premise done perfectly, proving that nothing is ever really old/boring if it's done right.

The FML took me some getting used to, but I warmed up to her once I understood her social anxiety better. Poor kid. Anyway, this was ADORABLE and so good and gave me lots of butterflies. Loved it.

Shoutout to her best friend and the positive representation of female relationships.

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I think the lead actors ruined it for me :-\

This is my first time watching a drama with either of these actors and only my second contemporary CDrama. I've been trying to figure out why I didn't like the drama much, because I feel like I should have liked it. the first 20 or so episodes were awesome (solid 9) but then it dropped to a 3 on the enjoyment scale and I found myself reaching for the fast forward button often. I ultimately concluded that the two lead actors were the problem.
Allow me to explain.
1. The ML did a phenomenal job with sad, longing, romantic, and/or flirty scenes. But for the technical scenes as an engineer in particular, or where he was supposed to be cool and aloof, he came across as not at all authentic. It's like he couldn't pull it off. There's a difference between aloof and flat. Likewise, there's a difference between stiff and intelligent. His aloof scenes came across as flat and his scenes where he was supposed to be demonstrating how brilliant he was just made him look stiff/robotic. This character was supposed to be passionate about systems engineering and the actor brought no passion to this part of his role (so, basically the basis of his central conflict and the core of his character).
2. The FL was really, really fun to watch, absolutely fantastic, until the two leads got together in the 22nd episode or so. After that point, she started randomly behaving in this really irritating infantile way that got worse with each episode. Her voice got higher and higher until she was using a baby-voice by episode 30. I was so sad because I really enjoyed her character up to this point.
Anyway. I'm willing to give these actors another try, but this drama was ultimately just average for me despite the story and direction being solid.

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My first KDrama and it's still one of the best

Business Proposal was the first Kdrama I watched and I'm really glad it was my first. It set the tone and my expectations for all dramas moving forward.

Things I loved:
The chemistry between the ML and FL
The script / dialogue
The humor (I laughed out loud often)
The direction
The second romance story

Things I didn't love:
The mother character was over the top and got on my nerves; I ended up fast-forwarding many of the scenes she was in
The kisses between ML and FL didn't feel realistic EXCEPT for in one scene (you'll know it when you see it). Otherwise, they lacked passion / felt very, very neutered. But ultimately (now, all these months and Kdramas later) I'm glad I saw Business Proposal first and my (low) expectations were set for kisses / physical affection in Kdramas. It's been a nice surprise whenever a Kdrama has a realistic / passionate kiss scene because I always expect them to be neutered and lackluster.

On that note, if you're looking for Kdramas with realistic romance (i.e. passionate kisses) here's my list so far:
The Red Sleeve (or any romance with Lee Se Young, she's incredible; also, this romance is SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD)
Healer (or any romance with Ji Chang Wook)
Goblin (or any romance with Gong Yoo, esp Coffee Prince)
What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (or almost any romance with either Park Min Young OR Park Seo Joon)
Doona
Do You Like Brahams?
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
Alchemy of Souls Part 2

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Perfection

My favorite Kdrama ever. I'll never get over it and I'll probably rewatch (the scenes between the ML and FL) several times a year.

Full disclosure: I watch Kdramas for the romance, and the romance here is TOP NOTCH. The background story for this one is fine. It makes sense and as an action plot device is pretty good. Most of the time, the background story helped add tension to the romance, so I only fast-forwarded through the action plot scenes during the last 4 episodes when I finally got tired of them and felt like they weren't adding to the romance. (Usually, I'm fast-forwarding through the non-romance scenes starting with episode 3).

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