Inferior to S1 in every way

It was really great being able to revisit these characters that I had grown to care for but the first word that comes to mind when I think about this drama is "unnecessary." Season 1 left off in a great place and I felt like this season had no idea what overarching story it wanted to tell, it left some beloved side characters in the dust, and it also gave up on the past-present parallels.

Our main character went through a lot of character development in the first season, whereas in this one I felt like for everyone we pretty much ended right where we started. Conflicts that seemed to make little sense (as the result of actions that felt out of character) were introduced and then resolved at the end, expectedly.

One thing that I loved about the first season was the way it tied the present timeline into the past. In every episode of this season it was like they tried to do the same thing but couldn't quite think of a story. The scenes jumped back and forth a little more haphazardly and I struggled to understand why this flashback was being shown or honestly what was even happening.

Because of the wishy-washinesss of the plot, it also just felt like many important characters and relationships were sidelined.

I will say that the acting still stays pretty consistent and I still love the casting of the main female lead and her younger self; it just feels so natural with the way they talk and argue and act and it really pulls me in.

It's a great drama to learn about the little bits of Taiwanese culture and language but as a drama I think the first season was way better.

Lire davantage

Plot vs. Plot Triggers

To start with, the world-building was a little confusing, but it definitely definitely grew on me. I grew to enjoy the different rules, aesthetics, and customs in different Clans — it's sad that we rarely see all of the groups get together because so much of the story is focused on individual characters, but as a backdrop they were still great to see.

The characters were plentiful but not confusing (at least not once you got used to them) and I particularly liked the female lead Baiqian, who was a strong female lead both in name and in personality. The relationship with Yehua was also great — a male lead who was so faithful and never wavered is always so satisfying to watch, even though there were some scenes where he was forceful and it made me uncomfortable.

Other than that, there is one thing that really bothered me and that's how the plot points were triggered — always by the cliche backstabbing, jealous, second female lead trying to sabotage the main leads' relationship. I've always been very annoyed by how the misogyny present in the writing of second female leads, and it was so obvious in this drama. It felt like there was an entire magic world and a faction war out there and yet everything was triggered by the pettiness of female characters. There had to be over three of them, and I honestly can't think of many female side characters that were genuinely good and important. I'd rather have the Ghost King or another antagonist be the main plot-driver.

Still, I think this drama played on tropes pretty well — while amnesia and time jumps usually bother me a lot and still sometimes felt convenient or rushed, I understand how both of them were an essential part of the plot and were explained generally well.

Lire davantage

Real and nostalgic

There's something so nostalgic about these Taiwanese coming-of-age films, about everyone in a class growing up together — and this movie was no different. Part of me really wanted this to have more runtime, maybe as a drama or mini series. There were just only two characters I really cared about (the two leads) and I couldn't really connect as much with the side characters and the feeling of friendship, although I knew what the movie was going for. Still, I loved the main leads a lot and they had really good chemistry.

At the same time, this had a really "movie" ending — bittersweet and not that satisfying, maybe a little more realistic than I wanted it to be. In the end, this movie just kind of left me with mixed emotions.

Great background songs also.

Lire davantage

Story 1 > Story 2

I actually really enjoyed the first story in this movie — it was quirky but endearing and despite some questionable moments, there was a very subtle layer of comedy that actually made the characters seem like very real and relatable people.

The second story, however, just didn't click with me very much, whether it was the characters' personalities themselves or the kind of haphazard and illogical direction that the plot went in.

Overall there's still a nice nostalgic feeling to this movie, but I didn't found myself that invested in the plot developments.

Lire davantage

Soft but problematic

I really loved the cinematography and soft vibe of this drama, but I have to admit that I liked the younger timeline much better than the characters as adults.

There's a really adorable softness and innocence to the younger characters, and I loved seeing what they were fighting for and seeing the feeling of us against the world.

The adults started out quite promising also and I liked that they had to deal with more adult problems like their children and experiencing firsthand corruption in business. However, I felt like there were actually so many typical kdrama tropes that I hated, like the overbearing ex. I also just felt like their adult development was so unnatural and rushed — I hated how overbearing the ML was while he was still in a relationship and I hated the financial disparity and the uncomfortable power dynamic it resulted in.

Lire davantage

Love the main leads

As the title says, my favorite part is undoubtedly the two leads and their interactions with another; this drama was peak enemies-to-lovers and I really liked that there weren't any stupid, clingy characters — each person had their own thing they were good at and their personalities. The families were all different as well and I loved that we actually got to see a lot of examples of healthy relationships, whether it's romance or familial, even when there were tidbits of noble idiocy.

I really enjoyed the first half of this drama as the classes merged and they got to know each other through different events, but honestly ever since the third-lead was introduced I just feel like this drama tried to take on too much. It dedicated a lot of time to just the third-lead, whose plot was really cliche and I didn't care much for, and the character development started to feel a lot more dragged out and slow. Even though he had his moments and jealousy scenes are always fun, I feel like he's a bit unnecessary and I would have rather spent more time in the school setting rather than suddenly decending into the entertainment business universe.

Lire davantage

Gets better

This was one of those dramas that gets better and yep, by the last few episodes I was getting really into it and I loved the direction that the plot took.

It did, however, take a while for me to reach that point; I kind of wish the earlier episodes had played into the plot more instead of just feeling like story set-up. without really answering or asking any big questions.

I also really loved a few of the characters — namely Hyun-su — but the cast was just a tad too big and I really didn't care much for many of the characters until the latter few episodes.

Lire davantage

Fluffy but inconsistent

To be honest this started off so frustrating with a string of bad things happening to the FL. And while I understood that and, what grew to be more annoying was the main FL's consistently bad decision-making and the repetitiveness of misunderstandings. There was pretty weak character development on her part — it seems like she just waited to be saved and still made the same bad decision next time, and it was always the same kind of miscommunication issue.

There are also a boatload of tropes in this that just got a little too cliche and cheesy, and this drama also suffered from the unfortunate syndrome of the big conflict coming in late and everything falling apart haphazardly, then rushing to get everything back in one or two episodes. Even with this issue, I liked how they tied in amnesia and the backstory.

The way they handled some situations just made no sense to me, and I also hated the way they diminished the best friend's anger with something like "Girls are just emotional like that."

Overall, this has its cute moments and the theme song is a bop.

Lire davantage

Adorable

This was the typical rom-com — very adorable and never really high stakes because you knew things were going to be okay.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed it, and it helped that the secretary and boss didn't fall too much into the cliche cold jerk/weak but warm stereotypes. JGH stood up for herself when necessary, and DMI was nicer than a lot of other bosses. The chemistry was really good.

I do, however, have a natural dislike for characters that keep these kinds of secrets — the kind that involves and hurts someone else and is purely for selfish reasons — and while I think the drama did a good job of balancing how JGH wanted to be someone else and yet felt trapped in her lie, I still think it might've been dragged on for a little too long.

I also wish the rules around DMI's face blindness were worked out a little better; how it was resolved at the end honestly felt deus ex machina, though I was still kind of relieved we got a nice resolution.

The secretary subplot was honestly really interesting, but I really wish it had been given more screentime and had been fed to us earlier. It's also rare that our two main characters are so uninvolved in the subplot and rather just victims of it (which was interesting to see actually). But I also felt like it wrapped up a little unsatisfyingly, though that could've been because I just didn't spend enough time with those characters to care deeply for them.

I liked JGH's siblings as well — even though they were parent-less, there wasn't ann overdose of angst and I loved how they still teased each other and supported each other.

Ultimately, this was a really fun watch, and I gotta say Veronica Park was HILARIOUS and cast perfectly. Favorite character.

Lire davantage

I feel like this had a lot of potential for good bromance, backstory, and personal character growth — but the thing they zoned in on was the love triangle. We spent so much time with the guys jostling each other and the girl debating who to pick, we didn't spend time on other topics I were really interested in: the guy who ran away from home, the ramen shop, ML's relationship with his dad, etc...I know tvN's Flower Boy series sort of always goes for that type of subtlety, but it also always seems to fall short of satisfactory closure.

There was also a lot of humor at the start, which I appreciated even though it wasn't my type of comedy and because I felt like the FL was acting so ditzy when she was supposed to be the more mature one. Even as someone who's not a huge fan of age gap romances, I really missed the power dynamic in that I liked how the teacher was in a position of power at school. I'm also a sucker for the school setting and kind of liked that part of the drama the best.

Lire davantage

This was a surprisingly wholesome and complete story, considering it was only 4 episodes.

It took a while for the main female lead to grow on me, as throughout a lot of the drama she really just felt like another cliche quiet, top-of-the-class good girl lead. The few scenes we saw her with her best friend made me like her a lot more and I wish we had more time to get to know the more talkative, smiley part of her.

Another character I really wanted to know more about was Brown Bear, and part of me wanted him to end up in the main ship instead, as his personality and backstory just seemed much more interesting than the main lead, who I didn't like as much. The few minutes of flashback we saw between Brown Bear and A-young's brother made him grow on me A LOT. Overall, I just wasn't a huge fan of the male lead, and I didn't think there was enough time for his character development.

Story-wise, however, the plot was really strong and I liked how we saw very subtle but well-paced character development in the side characters. The open ending (which is a style I'm not a fan of in general) left a lot to be desired in my view, but it can still be considered a happy ending, which I'm grateful for.

Lire davantage

The main couple's on-and-off-and-on-again relationship started to get really repetitive, and to be perfectly honest I was rooting for second lead a lot more.

Now, the special episodes I loved, because NOTHING beats the friends-to-lovers trope and even though something about Pu-Reum doesn't quite sit right with me, I love Ha-Neul and I will root for his ship.

I'm also surprised about something else—I'd always thought Jae-In was the main female lead, but it's been three seasons and she doesn't have much plot. I'd definitely want to see more of her in the next season.

Lire davantage

This drama was super cute from start to finish, and I love how the relationship between the main leads was different from a lot of cohabitation relationships where they start off hating each other. It was refreshing to see a male lead that wasn't arrogant and cocky; right off the bat, we saw that he was compassionate and caring for the FL, not because he liked her but just because of his personality. The little easter egg scenes at the end of episodes were also super cute because we got to see more of this.

Si Tu Mo was a lovable main female lead as well. She definitely stood up for herself, was straight and to the point when it came to romance and friendships, and it was really great to not have to get frustrated at those stupid misunderstandings that too many other dramas have.

Sadly, the last few episodes of this drama really slowed down the pace, and I felt like it dragged without any real storyline—they seemed like filler episodes.

The OST is also okay, but I love love love Time For A Love Song by Luna!

Lire davantage

The aesthetic of Playlist Global is still so sweet and adorable, but I feel even less invested in the characters and plot than I did in Season 1. Just like in the first season, though, I really loved the friendships between the characters, and it was interesting to see new characters get introduced.

The main ship is starting to get a little on my nerves because of how wishy-washy they were being, and I actually liked the new character better. Other than that, I still had quite a good time watching this, and the fact that the episodes are short and updated frequently makes it easy to get addicted.

Lire davantage