More Than Friends (2020)

An absolute letdown

When we talk about ML and FL being complete pushovers, this series definitely tops that list. What started as a quirky and cute drama, develoved into a complete mess. I can't help but regret the time I gave to follow the development of the characters. However, the second half of the series was a blur for me, constantly skipping some overstretched scenes and over-the-place emotions.

Frankly, the ML could have done a better job in not being an obnoxious person, but hey, then how would the writers bring those extreme emotions? After reaching one point, the storyline becomes quite predictable leaving no room for improvement or twists, whatsoever. Whoever decides to watch this drama must remember that the leads are filled with regrets and then some more.

While, the FL struggles to have a decent life in the first half, she somehow survives with enough breakups every year. As for our ML, who strictly follows 'ascetism' and only believes in friendship with our FL, always finds a way to reject her. Even this doesn't deter our FL for a while but as she starts dating someone who is as good as the ML, the ML loses his mind. He can't see her liking someone else even though he doesn't want to move beyond friendship. As jealousy flares, he starts falling for her. Ironic, isn't? What actual love couldn't do, a jealous heart did.

This leads to a scrawny second half, with a more miserable ML and his low self-esteem which can't handle his friend dating another guy. I am fed up of these plots but nevermind those who want to dig in, I hope it is worth while for you.

Peace out ☮️

Leer más

A waste of good casting

Oh god, where do I begin? Maybe I’ll just start with that I have never written any MDL review but it’s 4am and this drama made me so angry, I just cannot resist.

I’ve watched the whole drama just for a perfect cast. Both Ong Seong Wu and Shin Ye Eun are my absolute favourites so I was really excited. Sadly, the actors (the whole cast, not just the main characters) are the only good thing that has came out of this trainwreck.

It’s not that the main lead is just a typical jerk. I mean, he is, but on top of that, he’s an ignorant narcissist who definitely needs a therapy. The number of times he did not take no for an answer was just threatening and I’m surprised that nobody has ever called cops on him. He wasn’t cute, he was just terribly creepy and manipulative. An almost unnoticeable character development he goes through is just not enough in this case – not after seeing all the crap that he has done before.

The female lead was… not as bad as him and I guess that’s the only compliment she can get. From the very beginning, she did not care for other people’s feelings and made everything about herself. Sadly, her developing relationship with the second male lead made her only more unlikeable in this particular matter. Looking back at her behaviour, the only sympathy I’ve had for her was because I really wanted to see her finally developing and escaping the relationship with the male lead, which sadly didn’t happen.

The main couple could have some chemistry at moments if only not the fact that their whole relationship was built on the red flags. I’ve watched several kdramas but I swear, I have never seen such a toxic relationship before. The fact that the two could not communicate for the majority of the time and called it a “bad timing” basically says it all. Even after putting all this effort to finally form a relationship, they actually broke up because apparently, they have nothing to talk about anymore. And then, after not being able to deal with a literally first obstacle they had to face, somehow they still feel the need to go back together but make it hard for themselves for, again, literally no reason. It’s just ridiculous.

I actually kept watching the drama for two side relationships, thinking they were really cute at first. Sadly even those two were tragically crushed by poor screenwriting and non-existent problems. Especially the long-term couple seemed to develop problems out of absolutely nowhere. As the couple was definitely on the same page from the very beginning, it seems like the screenwriters had a hard time coming up with a reason to make the two break up. As a result, we had to watch them part their ways for no reason whatsoever only to make us realize how absolutely bland Hyun Jae is. The break did also no good to Young Hee, who completely lost my sympathy, as her actions were just absurd at the time.

The message this drama gives is just… alarming to say the least. The last episode (especially the last conversation between the second male lead and main female lead) basically states that it’s good to stay in a mismatched, absolutely toxic relationship and keep having arguments all the time as long as you like the other person. What the hell? It feels really itchy, concerning the fact that the plot itself did nothing to justify irrational arguments and showed almost no growth of the characters. I feel generally concerned seeing so many teenage girls drooling over this drama and idealising such toxic behaviours just because of a good cast.

Again, it’s just a shame that those very good, young actors had to waste their time, talent and potential on this piece of crap.

Leer más

started out great but...

I've waited a while to write this review because I wanted to think about it thoroughly before I gave my opinion.
I personally felt like this drama started out extremely well and had the perfect formula for a tragic story. However, it felt like the director changed his mind halfway through and wanted to make this drama a happy ending.
Let me explain. The male lead comes from a broken family. He is extremely affected by his parents' divorce and their arguments leading up to it so he believes that love should just be kept far away because at the end "there are no happy endings" (a direct quote from the drama). He likes to exclude himself from the world around him because he thinks that if he gets attached to someone, it will only lead to pain. The female lead on the other hand is somewhat of a pushover and falls in love with the male lead because he cares for her. In fact he hates that she's a pushover and wants her to be confident and happy on her own. Basically they are two very different people with very different outlooks on life. When the male lead decides to move to America, she confesses her love to him only for him to reject her because he just sees her as a friend. This leads her to have commitment issues and later in life dates multiple guys just to get over him but she never truly loves any of the other guys she's met.

The rest of the drama is a very kdrama style story with a love triangle and of course the second lead is extremely nice and rich and wants to be with her while she is in love with the male lead. For the first time, I did not have a second lead syndrome. I just really liked the male lead.

There were many scenes in the drama where it seemed like the pessimistic dialogues that the male lead was saying were somehow a foreshadowing. The male lead mentions that he doesn't believe in happy endings and there was a dramatic closeup scene and I wish that was a foreshadowing. IT JUST MAKES SENSE YOU KNOW? Either I was overanalyzing these scenes or interpreted them wrong but the story did not go the tragic route which I was very disappointed by. I love happy endings but for this drama... I just wanted it to be different.

The leads were brought together by many coincidences and until the very end of the drama they weren't officially together. I wish the story took the route where the leads would not end up together because 1. they are very toxic for each other and 2. they have very different definitions of love. So they could've played with the idea of letting a person go because you love them but aren't the right person for them. I feel like that would make more sense with the way the scenes were set up in the initial episodes.
The side characters were fun and overall I like the cast. However, half way through the show became a very formulaic kdrama with a happy ending.

serendipity by ha sungwoon was an amazing ost and my wannable heart was happy. Talented actors and a story that had potential were kind of wasted :/

Leer más

if youre new in kdrama, you probably will enjoy it since the story is easy to follow, but for old kdrama lovers, it's way too predictable and nothing exciting idk why. i love all the casts tho it's just the first male and female character are kind of annoying.
The girl hoding onto false hope of her first love for more than 10 years despite all her busyness doing part time jobs here and there so it's kinda sick. And she used "cursed" as an excuse saying that she cant love other man but him. Once she started to be more mature and independent, the male lead just came out of nowhere and there she fell for him over again! ugh
Also, the second lead deserves so much better!! he's so understanding but the girl only came to him whenever she feel sad and at the moment she started develop feelings for him, the male lead who was her first love came and stopped her for doing that and yeah as the cycle should she fell for him over again.

Leer más

Not even surprised at this point

I don't know where to start . Honestly i had a really hard time trying to finish this drama. The story is way too messed up and unacceptable. At first i had fun watching it. It that a cute love triangle thing going on but as the episodes started going onward, it went downhill. Our FL is a dumb stuck up who's been in love with a guy for 8 years or something and can't forget him no matter how she tries. She dates other people while being in love with this dude and breaks up eventually because she can't love them back and she's supposed to be pitiful for that? She keeps calling the dude whenever she's drunk like a creep and keeps confessing to him from time and time again just to get rejected but never learns her lesson and tries again.

The ML Lee Soo , played by Ong Seong Wu, seemed to be an interesting and edgy character at first. I was actually happy because the previous roles played by Ong Seong Wu were timid and shy so it felt fresh to see a new side to him. But as time went by, all that the ML seemed like was a jerk who couldn't control his emotions and kept pushing all his troubles under the rag. He'd have sudden outbursts and take it all out on FL and make her cry. The Fl was nothing but a punching bag to him but then he suddenly realises his feelings for her and we're supposed to sympathise with him and cheer him on? I think it's high time we should stop applauding the MLs mistreating the FLs because it's his way to show love and it's justified because he had a bad/sad past.

Honestly i really liked the second male lead Oh Joon Soo. His character seemed mature and understanding and to be honest, the only sensible adult among the leads. All he did was treat the FL with love, care and kindness but got nada in return. He didn't deserve such a pathetic ending. He was true to himself and his
feelings until the end.


The other characters like "Jin Sang Hyuk-Han Jin Joo" and "Kim Young Hee-Shin Hyun Jae" seemed fairly good, it seemed fascinating and compelling . Sang Hyuk and Jin Joo had a light, bubbly relationship were as Young Hee and Hyun Jae had a more realistic relationship. I enjoyed the segments were their stories were being told and it wasn't as much boring comparing to our FL ML's story which felt more like kids whining for lollipops. I saw character growth in Jin Joo, Young Hee and Hyun Jae but our FL Woo Yeon seemed pretty pathetic till the end and I guess Lee Soo learnt not to be an emotional baggage to everyone but i wouldn't say he was completely enlightened and finally matured but definitely better the Woo Young. Just one thing i never understood is that what in the world did Woo Young do to have two handsome men fighting over her. lol because at least one of them were sane.

Leer más

Not Worth Watching

I am amazed at how the writers were able to spread out the story and create 16 episodes. I guess they leveraged on all that fighting and bickering but only for the female lead to just eat all that she said - this happening in a good 7 episodes of this drama. I excruciatingly finished it till the end because I just wanted to know who the female lead would end up with. And what a disappointment! They deserve each other.

I think this drama could have scored a higher viewer rating if it was just a 2-hour movie or the story of Young Hee and Hyun Jae became the main plot instead.

Leer más

Easy Drop

I had such high expectations for this kdrama because not only ong seungwoo was staring in it but also shin yeeun, one of my all time favorite actresses. Not going to lie, I did enjoy watching the first few episodes. However, as the show carried on, the storyline became, perhaps, repetitive; everything was predictable and there wasn’t anything to look forward to. The relationship between the leads was not developed very well. What shocked me was that it took the male lead 10 years to figure out that his feelings for the female lead were finally mutual, only to find out that she had (sort of) moved on like a few months ago? That’s seemed quite strange and too far stretched. Taking in account the on and off relationship between the leads, there was no particular storyline. The situations in which the side characters were in also became very predictable, and were too basic. Despite the show having a below mediocre plot, I did enjoy watching it because of the cast. Jinjoo’s role and acting, she was definitely my favorite. The soundtracks of the kdrama were amazing, especially the one by ha sungwoon, loved the mini wanna one interaction :]. Frankly, I don’t think that I would ever rewatch this and I don’t ever plan on recommending it to someone. :(

Leer más

Waste of time

I have never been compelled to make a negative review because they are not worth my time but I just have things to get out there or it will just continue to bug me since it will all bundle up and annoy me. I literally didn't enjoy a single thing about this drama except from the 1st episode in which we get introduced to the two main leads and the supporting cast, maybe it was the best part of the drama because we haven't experienced all the bullshit to come from everyone.

In Kdramas you can feel various emotions like happiness, sadness, tension but for the first time ever in a drama, I felt genuine anger towards to show. Around episode 6-7 where Lee Soo got in a car accident and missed the timing which caused the CEO a Woo Yeon to meet and go out just pissed me off so much because it seemed like the writer just loved to make the two main leads miss each other by the hair in every situation.

I'll be honest I did not like a single character in this show, maybe with the exception of Jin Joo and Sang Hyuk in which they were the only bearable characters. I can tell a lot of people got Second Lead Syndrome which is warranted but I got 'Everyone's a Brick Wall Syndrome'.

First off with the main male lead. I can't like I was really looking forward to him due to Ong Seung Woo but not even he can save the abysmal character that he is. They introduce him as someone who's heart and actions say one thing but his mouth says the complete opposite, like seriously. It was so obvious that he like Woo Yeon but for some reason, he just friend-zoned her time and time again. His cocky narcissistic personality was also so annoying and I don't know how Woo Yeon fell in love with him and stayed that way for 10 years.

Woo Yeon's character also made no sense to me. Why go into relationships purposely knowing you love another person across the planet just to hurt the person you are currently going out with. I disliked her indecisiveness and how she always second-guesses herself. Like if I was Lee Soo I wouldn't like her too. Her character was that boring I literally have nothing to say about her.

The CEO character was also a massive wet wipe. Literally holding everything back being tough on the outside and insecure on the inside. When he realised that Woo Yeon might really go to Lee Soo, he just became plain right annoying with his stalker vibes literally going to where she works and waiting outside her house. He just doesn't know when to give up.

The supporting cast in this drama wasn't anything special in this show. The couple that went out for 10 years was just hard to watch at the female just kept self wallowing in self-pity and didn't know when to accept help and just to overreact and get angry at the people around her was stupid. Her boyfriend deserved so much more for putting up with her. I actually quite like Jin Joo's story that intertwined with Sang Hyuk as they eventually got together after having to jump a few hurdles.

The OST was not anything special to make a not on, to be honest.

Overall I should've listened to my gut around episode 7 and dropped it but my eagerness to see Ong Seung Woo and Shin Ye Eun in a relationship overpowered that and it wasn't even that special, it just felt really different can out of place compared to other dramas I just don't get it. Anyway, I only recommend this drama if you don't give a damn about the story and is only there for the cast in which even that could do that for me. I hope Ong Seung Woo takes a better project next time as he deserved more.

Leer más