Love to Hate You (2023)

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Drama: Love to Hate You (연애대전)
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 10
Release Date: February 10, 2023
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot: A top star and a lawyer fake a relationship because of a scandal but ends up falling in love.

Main Cast
Yoo Teo – Nam Kangho
Kim Okvin – Yeo Miran
Kim Ji Hoon – Do Won Jun
Go Won Hee – Shin Na Eun

Review:
Finally, a straight up romcom without murders or fantasy elements!! I wasnt planning on watching this until i saw the preview. Enemies to lovers? Top star and lawyer? Sassy lady vs Cool guy? Count me in!

I love Miran. She’s feisty, assertive and can beat the guys in any game or fights. No wonder Kangho was so impressed at this “unusual” woman. He doesnt get to meet a lot of them in his work. I love the maturity of their relationship even the dates and bed scenes looked more age appropriate and natural. I laughed at the scene where she spoke aegyo to Kangho while on the phone. She was so shocked that she can do aegyo, even the lawyers in the office were grossed out. LOL.

I also like Kangho, he looks cold but is actually playful and romantic when he finally got past his trauma. His bromance with his bestie was so funny and cute. I wouldnt have minded if they ended up together! i mean that scene in the early episodes when they were rehearsing a confession/kiss scene was so hot!

The second leads are cute but I wasnt as charmed by their story like the leads. Most of the time Na Eun was in love with Won Jun because of his looks and kept stopping him because of it (like hello, he wasn’t interested then!). On the other hand, Won Jun prolly fell in love because she understood him or was the only other female he can comfortably talk to.

This drama probably takes a jab at actors and actresses who look like they are friends in public but actually hates their guts in private. And all the insider rumors that go around the industry. Again, fans and netizens should also stop obsessing on their faves and let them live their own lives. Im imagining Lee Seunggi as I watched this show and how awful fans have been to him because of his upcoming wedding.

That super cringy public confession. I’m so glad Miran didn’t accept! The ending although is not bad is also not especially fantastic. But it also feels like it’s more realistic and the two leads stayed true to their characters.

Sometimes the vocalizing background music didnt fit the scene or was too loud.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Time to Fall in Love (CDrama) (2022)

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Drama: Time To Fall In Love
Country: China
Episodes: 24
Aired: Jun 10, 2022
Aired On: Friday, Saturday
Original Network: iQiyi
Duration: 35 min.

Plot: To keep his grandmother from nagging him to get married, a handsome CEO entered into a contract relationship with a girl. What he didn’t know was that the girl forced her twin sister to take her place. What will happen if the couple falls in love for real and the CEO learned about the lie?

Main Cast:
Lin Xin Yi – Sun Yanxi/He Jinxi
Luo Zheng – Gu Xicheng
Yang Ze – Fo Boya
Wang Xu Dong – Si Tu Shuo
Li Xin Ran – Lu An An
Zhang Yao – Nangong Liu Li
Pan Zi Yan – He Jinxi

Review:
This drama has all the fun and not so fun tropes. Contract relationship and falling in love for real switched identities and bad sibling exposing the secret, annoying SLs who can’t move on, and cool best friends of the leads falling in love and helping the couple. The second leads and the sister are super crazy so fast forward them if you like.

Super love Gu Xicheng and Sun Yanxi. They are so cute together!! They were supportive of each other. And we later find out they had a childhood encounter too.

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“No matter what happened before, and for whatever reason you came to me, my feelings have never changed a bit. Please trust me too. I love you.”

Xicheng to Yanxi

From now on, I’ll love her, spoil her, respect her and care for her. Whatever difficulties and challenges we may encounter in the future, I will always cherish her and see her as my life.

Xicheng to Yanxi

The romance of the two best friends were also funny!

The mischievous grandma is sweet unlike the usual dramas.

On the other hand, the SML and SFL were so clingy and annoying!! I thought Nangong was an ex gf but turns out it was all one sided! And she was not even pretty!!! I’m happy that Yanxi stood up to her and didn’t cower with fear. I’ve never seen SLs as psychotic and deluded as them. I couldn’t even care what happened to them. They showed Boya’s fierce and undying love (or obsession?) for Nangong to explain his actions, but I still didn’t find it satisfying or justifiable.

The real and new face of He Jinxi was ugly. Inside and outside. I can’t imagine why she thinks she deserves everything that Yanxi has when she didn’t even work hard for them. I like what Gu Xicheng said that she could never be Yanzi because they are not the same people. Yanzi is nice, sweet and hard working that’s why everyone loves her while Jinxi is so horrible, bullying and blackmailing her own sister and mother. I can understand how sad and unloved she must have felt all these years since it seemed like everyone favored Jinxi. But its also probably her attitude and personality that turned off a lot of people.

Overall, even at 24 episodes, this drama was so light and fun and easy to watch.

Rating: 8.5/10

A Business Proposal (2022)

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Drama: Business Proposal (사내맞선)
Network: SBS
Episodes: 12
Release Date: February 28 – April 5, 2022
Runtime: Mon & Tue 22:00
Country: South Korea

Plot: A girl who doesn’t want to go on a blind date asked her best friend to go in her place. The guy asked the friend to get into a contract relationship so that his grandpa will stop asking him to get married. What happens if they fall in love for real?

Main Cast
Ahn Hyo Seop – Kang Tae Moo
Kim Se Jeong – Shin Hari
Seol In Ah – Joon Young Seo
Kim Min Kyu – Cha Sung Hoon

Review:
The two female leads made the show brighter and livelier. I can totally see why they are friends. They are both crazy and hilarious!! Esp Young Seo. I love their friendship, how they are always there for each other in good, bad and crazy times. On the other hand, the two guys were so boring and stick in the mud, I sometimes wonder what they saw in them aside from their good looks. Maybe opposites do attract. Tae Moo and Sung Hoon must have found the two friends so fun and charming and so different from all the girls they’ve met.

I really liked the grandpa. I thought he would be the cool and hip grandpa since he watches Be Strong Geumhui. Yet in real life, when the time came and he found out that Hari was Geumhui, he was the same old rich grandpa stereotype that the Geumhui drama was making fun of. Did he not like her because she was average/not from a rich family? or because he was made into a fool? The story wasn’t able to fully explore this plot because there wasn’t any time. And what happened when grandpa moved to the US for treatment? I was hoping to see him and Hari have a great time together but all we heard was the grandpa approved their relationship. But that scene where Hari pushed the grandpa and he fell wasn’t funny at all.

The second leads were sometimes even better and swoonier than the main couple. I think it’s because Youngseo is so cute and expressive. But proposing after just a few months was unrealistic. I also liked that they also had some conflict /story with them being opposites and trying to understand each other. And that scene with Youngseo’s father. The cousin was hilarious!

I loved the jokes in the first few episodes. Archeopteryx. Rachel and Samantha. 🤣 Hari was so pretty as Geumhui. Taemoo must have fallen in love at first sight but stayed because he found someone who also loved food as much as he did. I actually cried when they were in the Melomance concert and Hari was crying because of Minwoo. Speaking of Minwoo, I actually like the actor so I couldn’t hate him even if he did took advantage of Hari’s crush on him for years. But I still liked how they had closure and some potential friendship in the future.

The ending felt rushed. Maybe because 12 episodes were not enough to fully explore and resolve the conflicts about the grandpa and office romance (which would have been a good story to tell).

Rating: 8.5 (8 for the story + 0.5 because this show made me feel lighter)