Very cute and models mature, good relationship

Please note I am for the sake of this review ignoring the controversy around the portrayal of the Arab prince. I don't disagree with the idea that it was a mistake, but it didn't spoil the show for me.

I just want to note that both the leads (and supporting cast) did an amazing job. The leads' relationship and chemistry was so good. Mr. Lee and Ms. Im pulled off what could have been too cheesy to watch, but they nailed it and made it fun. Yoona is, of course, beautiful, but also able to play cute so very well. My wife and I smiled and laughed a lot.

The ML, despite being rich and kind of damaged, modeled a very mature, calm, and loving relationship. When the FL made decisions that could have been viewed as hurting the ML he did not get made or throw a tantrum. he did his best to understand and support her.

Also, the trauma level is low enough to not drag down the whole story.

Well worth a watch. Just fast forward past he Arab prince stuff :-)

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Cute, low stress story worth your time

I May Love You was quite enjoyable. The actors were beautiful, the story was fun and a bit different. I liked how we had plenty of good times rather than everything coming together just in the last 10 minutes like with some series.

The FL is so cute and I think she did a really great job with her role. Her acting is very natural. I hope to see her lead more modern-setting dramas.

Here is my one gripe that almost caused me to bail. I had the same issue with the series “Love Is Sweet”. In the beginning of the series, the ML would grab the FL by the arm/wrist and not let go. He also forced a kiss on her. (The FL did that to the ML early in, but female on male is a whole different thing than male on female.) Not sure why the FL did not slap him or report him. Later the ML was so sweet and gentle this seems like a weird plot hole to me.

In any event, the series ended well and other than my one gripe was good fun. I recommend it.

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Love the lead couple - but ultimately dissapointing

Let me start with the good. There was great acting all around. I love the lead couple (Pro Ye-Jin and Kim Young-Dae), which is why my wife and I watched in the first place. And they were great. Also, the premise of the story was fun.

But...

First and foremost , there was too much sadness throughout the series with too little payoff at the end. The ending was very disappointing and NOT what we were hoping for. I won't spoil it, but gads, what a letdown. :-(

Also, although Mr. Kim, as usual, did a great job, his character was too morose and sullen through virtually the whole series. It gold pretty darn old after a while. He is much better in more upbeat roles. We absolutely LOVED him in Sh**ting Stars, where he was so fun and totally killed it!

Overall, the story was just not our cup of tea, I guess. So we won't be rewatching this one. Too bad.

If you are up for being down (ha ha) for 14 episodes, go for it. But don't expect to be happy at the end.

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Nice, easy, low trauma watch with cute leads

I really enjoyed this series since it was easy to watch, mostly pleasant, and the leads were good. It does not break any new ground, and some criticisms in the reviews are spot on, but nonetheless I enjoyed the show. I really like the FL who did a really nice job playing the role from overly sweet (part of the plot), to in-your-face gamer and assertive woman, to geniunely sweet and empathetic. The ML, who drove me nuts in Put Your Head on My Shoulder (a series with one of the worst endings ever, although not the ML's fault) did a really good job here. I think the main couple did have good chemistry.

My main criticism is the loss of trust by the FL for the ML near the end of the show. Yeah, it was brought on by yet another failure to communicate, but still. That was annoying.

The OST was pretty good for a CDrama. I bought a few of the songs off of iTunes (U.S.) by searching for this: 以爱之名

Anyway, for a light, fluffy watch, it is worth it. It was a good antidote to my just having watched Forever and Ever which was too heavy and slow. (Except for Bail Lu, of course :-) ).

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Very slow but finished because of Bai Lu

As usual there are many epic and eloquent reviews out there already. I'd like to just add a very quick take.

Executive Summary: You should watch this only if you will be very into a literary, poetic story with a small stage feel.

The Good:
Bai Lu is awesome as usual. She is the reason I could finish this drama. She is beautiful and cute and her natural acting in an unnatural story is what made this worth the watch.
The cute/comedic moments were very well done and were a nice respite from the slow pace and bad vibes.

The Sub-Optimal
This story is the slowest, least intense drama I have managed to finish. Really too slow for me.
The secondary characters were not fleshed out well. A couple of the secondary female characters were very well done and acted (by Wang Yue Yi and Wang Rui Xin).

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Feel Good, Inspirational Sports Story

This was a fun watch. I really enjoyed the main couple (played by Zhang Xin-Cheng and Janice Wu) and the second couple (played by Qin Tian Yu and He Xuan-Lin). The writers invested the characters with interesting and non-vanilla personalities.

My main point is don't expect something really different or with too big an emotional impact, but just watch it to enjoy the story.

The Good Stuff
- Pleasant story and fun characters
- One of the story’s goals was to be inspirational
- Trauma, but not too heavy IMHO

The Sub-Optimal Stuff
- A bit too long. At the end I was kind of glad it was wrapped up
- Some uncharacteristic choices by the characters, such as a pointless lack of communication leading to a break up. I think what the FL did was wrong (if understandable) and this was never acknowledged.
- End was a nice wrap-up but… a tad weak - like I’ve seen in a lot of dramas recently. I don’t get it. We need a bit more of a splash for an ending!

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Great acting but mostly depressing

This is another KDrama that is hard to rate. It is so well done, but whether you would like it is very dependent on what you are looking for. For example, are you looking to be subjected to hours of sadness? Then watch it. :-)

I usually point out the good before the not so good, but I’ll reverse it this time since the not so good is the determining factor for me.

Sub-Optimal
- Sadness. Hours and hours of sadness. Too much for me, honestly.
- The writers were like, “We gave ‘em a few minutes of happiness, time to kill off someone!” Gads.
- Inexplicable choices by the leads in the last couple of episodes. Even for a KDrama, and their normal tropes, the leads’ choices seemed to not fit the characters as we knew them. So unnecessary and did not add to, but only detracted from, the story.
- What we were all waiting for pretty much came in the last couple of minutes. Too late.

The Good
- Great acting! By absolutely everyone.
- Great cinematography!
- Ha Ji-Won is the reason to watch. So beautiful and so talented. Her small and subtle, cute and comedic scenes made the series. There was just not enough of them.

So, all in all a 7. With less depression and less buffoonery at the end, would have been a 10.

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Incredibly Well Done - But Not a RomCom

I don’t have a lot to add beyond what other reviewers have already said. But I’d thought I’d make a few points to perhaps make it easier for folks to make a decision to watch, or not.

This series is not a RomCom. While there are comedic moments, most of the time this is more of a drama. There is lot of sadness as things don’t go well for the main couple. The picture on the movie's page makes the couple look super happy. This was not the case for many episodes.

Having said that, there are quite a few positives aspects to the story. For example the ML’s family is a very positive storyline (with some backstory, or course).

The storyline is intricate and well crafted. The different threads weave seamlessly together and come together well at the end.

The acting is really good. I think this was a tough assignment for the actors, but they pulled it off so well. I’d also call out the casting as superb.

I think I could point out a few things I would like to have seen come together a bit differently, but that does not at affect my recommendation. Despite the fact I thought this might not be my cup of tea:

If you OK with a story that some might consider a bit “slow” and that is not very happy a lot of time, then by all means watch this series. It is well done, well acted, and quite touching. I give it a 9/10 rating.

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Great cast and acting, great chemistry, good story (one slight spoiler called out)

Overall
I urge you not to take the super low ratings to heart. This show has a lot of trauma, but also a lot of humor that really works. Watch it!

Give me those two leads and the same level of trauma as in Touch Your Heart and it’s a classic worthy of an 11 rating.

The Good
- The cast is great. especially leads.
- The leads are a beautiful couple and their chemistry is off the charts.
- The FL’s smile is dazzling.
- Comedic elements landed and were not over the top. Both leads (and the secondary characters) pulled the humor off very well.
- Tenderness between leads, during the happy times, was inspiring.
- There were some really nice Mercedes cars (LOL even though I am a BMW guy :-)
- We got some decent amount of happy times at the end, not just the last 15 minutes like in some series.
- The story was interesting, with the caveats below.

Sub-Optimal
- There are at least one too many time slips. It did get repetitive and frustrating, as others have noted.
- There was also too much trauma, which accompanied the too many time slips. I would have rated this a 10 if there was less trauma and at least one fewer time slips.
- Those two things almost pushed this down to a 7 or 8. But my love for the leads and the comedic elements saved it for me.
- The villain (I feel sorry for the actor, who did his job well) was somehow not compelling for me.
-v(Kind of a spoiler) They dIdn’t really show a marriage - well they kinda did, but not for reals. I’ll leave it at that.

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Cute, no trauma romance with a great start

Note this series is very short - not a bad thing in general.

I really enjoyed (on Viki) this short series. The premise (rekindled love) is not new, but the initial episode and its set up of the backstory was awesome. The first few minutes were very clever and fun! One of the most amusingly awkward setups ever :-)

The rest of the series was not that as good as the first 15 minutes, but still fun and enjoyable.

The acting was OK, but not great. I liked the FL lead the best. She is super cute and her acting was the most natural of the bunch, so kudos to Xiao Yu.

A couple of other reviews had likes and dislikes that I agree with, so I won't repeat them. Except for this one: I also would have rated this even higher, but some of the writing was iffy. A couple of scenes in particular I was thinking... nah... wouldn't happen.

My other negative is I was a bit disappointed with the ML's actions a couple of times. Pushing himself physically on the FL a bit too much when she was still not sure how she felt. And I also thought it was somewhat out of character.

Anyway, fun and enjoyable. Light and fluffy. Fun initial setup. Watch it!

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Gifted Acting, Finely Crafted Story, Best of 2023

I write my review below (after the “——“) and then decided I needed to add a bit:

I am truly mystified by some of the reviews of this show. I never want to say anything negative about people on the internet, but I just don’t get it. The negativity is amazing. Pointing out how the writers never spoke to women before, that it made all women look stupid??? Both the men and women were flawed - as are real people. Yeah, the characters could be annoying and frustrating, but have we not encountered these types of people in our lives? Have we not made dumb decisions that we look back on and can’t believe we did that? I sure have. This drama is no worse in that regard than countless other KDramas and CDramas which did not garner such reviews. This series just did a better job than almost off of the others with such flawed characters. :-(

————

When I read that this series was coming, I was truly excited. Touch Your Heart is my all time favorite KDrama. While everything about that show was great, it was Yoo In-Na's acting - her interpretation of her role - that was genius and made the show truly special. Could she pull it off again?

And I was not disappointed! Once again, she was the true driving force behind a series and elevated it to be as good as it possibly could be. She delivered a master class in acting, IMHO. Her ability to communicate emotions. The uniqueness of her expressions and the inflections of her voice... Amazing. Thanks to the those who cast her as Deborah!

I fee a bit like a broken record, because Kdrama acting is often so good, but I just have to say it. Everyone cast in this series was phenomenal.

Yoon In Na... Well, I've said it. She makes this story shine and we feel for her throughout the arc of the story.

Yoon Hun-Min as the male lead was so good. Dang, watching his character was so frustrating! So obviously he nailed the role and made it believable no matter how unbelievable it could have been.

Hwang Chan-Sung's role as the ex. I hated his guts! His acting sparked the feelings we were meant to feel.

Park So-Jin was sooo good in Sh**ting Stars.** And she was fantastic here. Her portrayal of a women in a listless marriage truly had our sympathy. She is just so darn good the I hope to see here as a lead in series to come. I’ll watch anything that features Ms. Park.

Let's hope we see so much more of Kim Ye-Ji. She is so cute and really did well in what I think is a difficult role - both strong and unsure of herself at the same time.

The story: Once again the Koreans' writing craft is so amazing. This was a tightly woven tapestry of multiple couple's evolving relationships. There was not a dull minute for my wife or I and we could not wait for each new episode. As the story was coming to an end I could not believe we had seen 13 episodes already and we were almost done. No feeling of, "This is starting to drag and I need to fast forward" in this series! I know we won't get it, but Season 2 please!

My one complaint is that at key points, the Male Lead did not communicate and it was just hard to believe. I am sure there are people who are, in a sense, broken like that. But he was given so many chances... Yeah, I know it can happen, I was pretty much that screwed up when I was young. But watching it drove me nuts! Then again, the story had me locked in so the writers obviously know what they are doing. :-)

If you want to read a good review of the story itself, check out ameerahcarol's review. So good it reads like a professional review.

Watch it!

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