Jessica Blas

Of books, friendships and second chances. Having the drive and passion to realise your dream and fighting for what you love the most, regardless of hardships or a painful past. Of women's struggles in the Korean society - being a divorcee mom finding back her mark in the workplace after a long career break, the older single career woman, the mom who struggles between work and taking care of a sick child, and of course, the workaholic gal who loves, but is not loved back. Set in a publishing house, where one would enjoy learning a lot about the joy and pain of how books are made, appreciating every line and every page, recognising the writer's passion behind it, balancing art and profit. So much heart and respect for each other and in what they do. Lee Na-young as Kang Dan-yi, a lovable cat that would make you smile until the end. Strong-willed, determined, highly principled, valued honor and ethics. Nothing can destroy her spirit. Never jealous. Open-minded and grateful. Filled with ardent eloquence. Lee Jong-suk as Cho Eun-ho, the young Chief Editor who held a deep, secret love for a friend of twenty years, who's five years older than him. Charming, sweet, supportive and true to his profession. From platonic to romantic. An unlikely pair that ultimately clicked. The girl was older, but so what? Not awkward, and nothing new or uncommon in K-dramas. The chemistry between Lee Jong Suk and Lee Na Young hit that perfect note of cozy familiarity, beautifully. From comfortable conversations, light kisses, warm hugs, to the simple complete ease of being around each other, both made the connection feel very genuine. Second lead pair - Jung Yoo-jin as Song Hae-rin, and Wi Ha-joon as Ji Seo-joon - completed the love square, and both played their characters wonderfully. Quite a number of other supporting roles, including five romantic pairs, that may seem hard to develop in 16 episodes, but all able to rightly shine. Whether happy or sad, victory or failure, love gained or love lost - all roles were well-played, with characters leaving a lasting impression. The sweetest was Song Hae-Rin and Kang Dan-yi's friendship, and the angle around Ji Seo-joon and writer Kang was deep, moving and heartfelt. Interesting characters, fun relationship dynamics, many deep conversations, life lessons and overall positive vibe. Lines and commentaries in books turned into heartwarming and insightful dialogues. Powerful stanzas in poetry. Realistic sub-plots around the work environment. Subtle and mature love story (except for some moments too cute for me). Struggled a bit to warm up to the show (and to LSJ because I'm not a fan), but after a few episodes, it started to grow on me, and 'doubt' turned to 'ease' by episode 9, highly picking up on episode 12 when secrets begin to unveil. Except for some fillers, that if absent wouldn't have affected the plot just the same, this one is a calming drama that does not drain your emotions, or you. Soulful and sentimental. Light, thoughtful and heartwarming. Real people. Real life issues. Thoughtfully written, with lots of heart, and just the right dose of playfulness. Very real. Fun to watch. The victory dance - power pose! The Gyeoroo’s trademark trenchcoat swish - love! Romance being a bonus, and not being the main focus of the show, is a big plus. So refreshing. Not everything merits a happy ending, but most do. Hey..."The moon is beautiful."

Soldiers and doctors in one exquisite drama. Bravery, faith and love. Friendship, brotherhood, international politics and criminal intrigues. Respect, hope, and fulfilling one's duty and promise. Two love stories - equally powerful - weaved through life's realities in respective fields, and that showed no competition at all onscreen. The struggle they face in the journey to love, is what made it worth watching. A few unrealistic happenings here and there though, particularly on episodes 8 and 14. And Song Hye Kyo may be genuinely beautiful, but her character was a bit sketchy that it took a while of warming up to her as Mo Yeon. There was also infrequent void in her eyes, that made her acting unconvincing. Then again, charm over flaw. Thumbs up, overall. Great storyline. Awesome and well-built cast. Brilliant delivery of dialogues. Gorgeous cinematography. It's all there - action, romance, comedy, drama. No wonder it's become a K-drama favourite. My favourite? Doctor Pyo!

She is sloppy, loud and unrefined, but determined, passionate and forgiving. He is mean, controlling and emotionally conflicted, but dedicated, truthful and charming. Tantrums, temper fits, verbal insults, yelling. Bad haircuts and horrendous dress styles (fine...it was in 2005). Foolish love, lost love, true love. Empowered women, persistent men albeit toxic. Dancing and singing. Laughing and crying. Good actors, with a special shout to Kim Sun Ah (Kim Sam Soon), who effectively played as a full-figured pâtissier (gaining 7 kilos for the role), struggling with career and love life insecurities of a woman grazing 30. The handsome and dreamy Daniel Henney, who played Dr. Henry, was definitely a bonus. Overall - funny, realistic, sometimes shallow, but understandable. Could have used some cautious editing though. The quite open-ended ending, for me, worked. "Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt before. Live like there's no tomorrow."

Deception, rejection, heart flutters, heart bleeds. Family, first love, and deep, supportive love between best friends. Hard work, teamwork, leadership and accountability. Realities in the workplace effectively tackled and well-played. Passion. Dreams. Self-love. How happiness and fulfilment bring out one's inner beauty. From overacting and over-reacting, to eventually portraying a kind and loving heart, with intensity and depth. Worthy of mention is Kim Shin-hyuk (played by Choi Si-won) - funny yet hurting. Goofy and clowny, and all while concealing a heartache. So much emotion behind the jokes. He's what selfless love is all about. Beware: he could actually steal your heart. Apart from some excessive acting to be funny and exaggerated meanness (mostly in the first few episodes), and with a central pairing that may not be as impressive, the actors all delivered heartfelt performances as real, ordinary, relatable, sensitive characters. The rom-com series didn't even need an evil character to succeed, and that to me, was a plus. Romance and friendship took equal footing onscreen. Emotions and feelings outnumbered dialogues. Oh, and the finale - certainly not rushed, nor did it lag. Creatively and thoughtfully put together, to make sure it left a mark. Gratifying to watch. "Let's not regret. Let's not even look back. From now on, let's live in the moment." - Ji Sung-joon

Intense. Profound. Enthralling. A dynamic drama with explosive substance. No prolonged heavy drama scenes. Just enough for a teardrop or two, and a light pinch to your heart. Heroes and villains. Revenge and forgiveness. Love and hate. Loyalty and betrayal. Power and debility. Pride and humility. Friendship and enmity. Good and evil. Racism, gender discrimination, bullying and power-tripping. Values, business ethics, integrity and doing the right thing. Deep and decades-long feuds, businesses at war, overlapping love triangles. It's all there. Twists and turns knitted through unyielding goals and a stoic set of life principles, and dreams worth fighting for. The plot encapsulates being human in an impactful way, with notable occasions of disagreement (why did she do that, how can they be so evil, how can he be so naive). But such is life. It's composed of varying and sometimes absurd world views. A drama with so much heart and filled with life quotes and lessons, mainly on the importance of relationship and trust. 🤜 From a strong beginning, it turned slow halfway, but luckily picked up pace thereon, with dialogues that were meaningful and more powerful in later episodes. The characters may be flawed, but were all substantial. Each played a role that made sense. Their characters were there, and their acting were such, for a reason. The principled, resilient, strong-willed yet naive and ignorant Park Sae-royi (Park Seo-joon). The interesting, clever, yet childish, obsessive and sometimes annoying Jo Yi-seo (Kim Da-mi). Oh Soo-ah (Kwon Nara) and her pretty face, helplessness and unforgiving involvement with the enemy. The wickedness, malice of antagonists Jang Dae-hee (Yoo Jae-myung) and Jang Geun-won (Ahn Bo-hyun). The very fashionable and charming Kang Min-jung (Kim Hye-eun). Thumbs up to Lee Joo-young's phenomenal performance as transgender, Ma Hyun-hi. Meanwhile, thumbs down to the romantic angle and no-chemistry match-up of Park Sae-royi and Jo Yi-seo. And the cameo of Park Bogum...whoa! Powerful storyline despite some betterment in storyline transition. Astounding performance of actors. This drama will leave you both with a smile and a nasty grin on your face. Well-written. Well-edited. Well done. Crime does not pay. Or does it? Oh well...soft tofu stew, anyone?