Destined with You (2023)

It goes downhill really fast

The story is interesting and it got me hooked in the first couple of episodes, but then I started to realize the FL has no personality. At all. The actress tried her best and she's great but the character is weak at best.
And then the FL from ep 12 on just picks the most dump decisions and that just wasn't for me. I'm not a big fan of the "I'll go to the bad guy to protect my loved one, with no plan and no good reasoning" thope and I honestly think we're way past this cliché.

That being said, I really think the actors did a good work with what they had and the leads had good chemistry.

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The story at the get go is interesting to me with a hint of comedy, it was fun up until the cheating part of the drama. I just didn't like how the author justified their love story with ruining the second female lead like that, because even if that's what happened I can't justify their romance. I was so bothered by it. The past era/scenes was fine with me but I guess I was not that convinced with it. The last part of the story felt rushed and no more excitement as it goes on. The actors were great for me as watcher, the side characters are fun and also given the spotlight. I was really into the spells theme in the first part but was really bored in the long run. I would recommend this one but I won't rewatch for sure.

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Netflix's Top 10 TV Global Non-English seven weeks aired on JTBC Aug 23, 2023 - Oct 12, 2023

This review will not assess cinematography, mise-en-scene, lighting, diegetic etc.

Destined With You (This is irresistible Love) 2023

Director: Nam Ki Hoon (Tunnel 1987) (Kiss Sixth Sense 2022)

Screenwriter: Noh Ji Sul (100 Days My Prince 2018)

Main Actors: Jo Bo Ah as Lee Hong Jo/Aeng Cho (Female lead Onju Civil Servant)
Rowoon as Jang Shin Yu/Jang Mu Jin (Lawyer)
Ha Joon Kwon as Kwon Jae Kyung Advisor to Mayor (Second Male lead)
Yura as Yoon Na Yeon (Mayor's daughter, decorator, ex-Girlfriend to Shin Yu


Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy

This is a love story encompassing three hundred years that requires you to suspend logic because Shamanism, Karma, Curses, past lives and reincarnation must be accepted.

This drama uses non linear storytelling, flashbacks that DON'T fill in all the blanks.

You will be left with questions because the screenwriter, director purposely allowed the audience to develop their own theories of what happened and what will unfold.


If you lack patience, need to interrupt the story at every turn, this isn't for you.


Surrender yourself to this drama; get lost in the beautiful love story between Hong Jo and Shin Yu, you won't be disappointed.



The Princess Bride (1987)
Grandpa to his Grandson stop interrupting me.

Destined With You reminds me of Secret Garden (2010)

Recommend the OST



Lighten up Francis

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Perfect drama for a someone not used to Fantasy dramas!!

Wow!!! Just wow!! I’m so impressed with this drama!! I don’t normally watch fantasies, they never appealed to me, but I’ve gotten into them more recently and I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED!!!yes there are spells and magic used in the drama, but not enough to overwhelm you!! It was mostly just about past lives and reincarnation which they executed PERFECTLY!! This drama is officially going on my list of top drama’s I’ve watched and mind you I’ve watched thousands at this point!! I LOVE THE WAY IT ENDED!!!! I love that they didn’t end it when you thought they were going to!! I really thought they would end it when she went to get the cotton candy when they were walking in the park, but they didn’t and that made me so happy!!! I love that they ended it with how their relationship started; with the box.
Hong Ju and Shin Yu had insane chemistry the entire time and Shin Yu’s scene when he was crying thinking she was dead broke my heart! His acting is SO GOOD!!! I’m genuinely sad this has ended!! Bravo to the writer and director, they really had a vision and executed it stunningly!! I have nothing bad to say about this show!! And I’m so glad there were no empty plot holes! Everything got answered in the end!!! I should have watched this show when it came out 7 months ago!!!

SO OVER ALL
Acting?- SUPERB!
Rewatch value?- Honestly a good 8/10 and I NEVER rewatch shows unless I’m obsessed with them!
Plot?- SO UNIQUE!! They really didn’t do a lot of the known Kdrama cliché’s that everyone knows either! Definitely some plot twists!!

BRAVO!! 👏🏼😭

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Going down roofie road.

After binging this drama in the span of less than a week. I have to make a formal apology to "From Now on Showtime!" because this show is basically the same thing but like wayyy worse in every aspect.

Its boring, predictable and cliché. The stalker serial killer, the b*tchy 2nd FML, the second lead not liking her until he's got competition... All of it made me wanna hurl. The show not being able to remember it's own lore about magic.

I don't mind dramas being commercials... But I still wanna be told a good story. I was totally on board for this show until the 5th episode? Once he drank that DAMN love potion it was OVER for me! Such a dumb decision! Speaking of dumb things.

I could not bring myself to believe that a woman willingly wrote this. Every single female character with 1 exception (and no, its not the FL) is a joke. An actual joke. The FL's only characteristics are her being "nice" and liking hot guys. Aside from her dad dying thats all we know about her. Everything else circles back to those two things. Oh? she's hardworking? YEA cuz she's "nice". Oh she's making dumb magical decisions? YEA it's cuz she likes hot guys. The script has her isolated from other people without really giving a valid reason. If she's so nice why does she get bullied and isolated everywhere she goes… I know it's Korean fiction but there's gotta be a reason for her lack of human connections. Even the biggest bitches I know have a couple f*ckin friends??? Her superiors and coworkers are all disgusting shallow people who walk all over her, take advantage and so on. DESPITE THAT! The FL still wants to be friends with them?

LADY PLEASE have some respect for yourself.

I really dislike when women in dramas can only think of men... you don't have any hopes? Dreams? Goals? Hobbies? The coworkers and 2nd FL have lives that only revolve around the males they drool over... So pathetic. Also the 2nd FL is a freaking delusional hypocrite that honestly made me head cannon that she was a stand in for someone that actually bullied the writer in real life, that way she can feel like she punished her bully through the show… All of this seems like bad fan fiction. The Mary Sue FL, the lack of romantic tension, and the one dimensional 2nd FL… it all reeks.

The male characters are basically pieces of paper. I don't know why the ML ended up liking the FL? He was so rude to her and then BOOM the worst decision of the show comes and all of a sudden he's all about her… The 2ND ML seemed like he might have something relatable and interesting going on… but it doesn't get enough development and he too also starts liking the FL for shallow reasons… I have nothing to say about either of the villains… Both were so boring. The mayor man…. allows his uneducated daughter to make political decisions for him because she's angry… What a whack politician…

The biggest issue is the FL making the conscious decision to trick a man into drinking a love potion that would FORCE that man to love her. This action is the biggest issue for me... Is her life so bad that she needs to essentially magically roofie a man? She's that desperate for love??? WHY??? So cuz her dad died she has the right to force men into a relationship even after being PREVIOUSLY REJECTED BY THE SAME MAN? I just can't wrap my head around this creative decision.... THIS and everything that results from it are tainted. If she gets into a relationship with that guy… then everything that takes place is r*pe… I don't understand how the writers missed that… The drama doesn't really make any effort to condemn her actions either, instead it's used as a comedic trampoline… All kinds of shenanigans take place after that…

The cinematography, music, and acting were all fine I guess.

I can confidently say this was my worst drama of 2023… too much of it rubbed me the wrong way. I would gladly watch King The Land 20x times more than ever watch this again. Just awful.

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A very good surprise …

I hesitated to watch the drama because of some reviews, and I don’t regret having watched it, as these reviews were wrong to me.
Also, the screenwriter also wrote 100 my Prince, and Scent of a Woman.
And the mature Jo Bo Ah never chose her drama wrongly so far.

The storyline isn’t messy at all, it is extremely clear and well balanced between present time and flash backs, which come little by little to maintain the suspense of what really happened in the past between the two lovers and why, until the end… and it is really impossible to thoroughly guess it.

Another good thing about the drama is that it managed to be very original … and therefore unexpected despite some classic kdrama tropes.
But these are lovely.

Now about the love story, it is absolutely charming,
I must say I wasn’t a fan of Rowoon so far, but he plays his part perfectly…especially when he doesn’t know if he loves Jo bo ah because of a spell or genuinely… in that regard, dialogs and situations are once again on point, a bit more daring than in many dramas. And lighthearted too with moments that really make you smile.
And I loved that there was only genuine love between them, in the past and present.

All in all, a very unusual, very entertaining and great drama, served by a superb ost.
I really rooted for the 2 ML leads from the beginning on, and was really content with their happy ending.

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DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY ITS JUST MY OPINION!!!

Sry but I watched it for rowoon only , the chemistry between the main leads wasn’t as expected . The support characters was more interesting , funny and sometimes annoying . I honestly deeply hated the 2coworkers of the fl i took it personally are they even friends omg i thought i will see any growth as the show goes on but nuhhh even until the last ep when the fl asked them to get closer and improve their friendship and invited them over they refused saying the hot guy in the first floor moved out and agreed when she agreed to bring her bf over OMG i don’t think the writers have any real friends at all . It was okey at first in the first few ep they treated her trushly I thought its okey its for the plot and to show us the growth in their friendship with the fl (that’s what I expected) but even in the last ep they’re still the Same .

The fl personality pissed my off the first 5 eps . She does improve but not that much there was massive plot holes and wired story lines sometimes the lines between the main leads was sooooooooo cringe it literally gives me the ick . The story about the past life wasn’t bad but the ml was the crown prince or smth like that whyyyyyy he was sooo weak he couldn’t do anything for his love . He killed her so they can’t or smth , what’s the pointtt of killing her whyyy she really suffered alot for him while he was watching. She almost died infront of him and he just watched with no tears .

The curse was nonsense (the past life fl ) once said who kill her his all generation will die in a young age until the hole generations of this family comes to an end . The ml’s father isn’t cursed why??? Why only the ml suffered from the curse or illness

As I said b4 the drama was a 16 ep long advertisement for both Samsung and Tiffany&co . Like in the scene the fl fell into the hole she passed out but the samsung phone survived it 😂 and many other scenes where the phone is the only one survives , the tiffany bracelet and the samsung phones had more screen time than the support characters

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The Curse of the Rambling Script

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This was an interesting series. The script was good, but not great. On the positive, the ending was very satisfying and left no loose ends. On the downside, the main story concept was not always clear and there were some weird components. Some sections felt rushed and introduced things without context at times. There were also some side storylines that were unnecessary. It felt like they needed filler material for a script that could have been a 12-episode series but needed it to be 16 instead. The actors did a great job with their characters. However, I was not a fan of Lee Hong Jo’s coworkers. They were very annoying during most of the series and I skip many of their scenes. I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I did not see any on-screen romantic chemistry with the two main leads. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. This had beautiful cinematography and special effects.

Random Notes:

Overall, I enjoyed watch it. Although the script had some flaws, it was entertaining and had a great ending.

Why do I love seeing familiar locations used from other series? The bar used in many of the scenes was the same one used in the “Love with Flaws” series.



******Spoiler Alert******

I’m not a fan of love triangles, but the one in this series was well written. However, I still found myself rooting for Lee Hong Jo to end up with Kwon Jae Kyung instead of Jang Shin Yu even though I knew that would not happen. Jang Shin Yu and Lee Hong Jo looked cute together, but I was not seeing any romantic connection with them.

The romantic storyline with Gong Seo Gu and Ma Eun Young was cute but seemed out of place with the rest of the script.

The storyline with Jang Shin Yu’s parents also seemed out of place and was just weird.

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maybe you will need some patience...

Destined With You was saved by the chemistry of the main couple. as this is a romance drama I was expecting that this would happen, but I didn't thought only the romance could carry this drama for so long.

in my opinion, the story is really weak, filled with plot holes and unnecessary fillers. the lack of strong support characters and of a solid background for the couple really bothered me, like only the two of them existed in the drama at all! the colleagues of Hongjo are so annoying and didn't add anything to the story, and the same happened with Shinyu's parents, whose relationship were so poorly written. the second lead didn't played a big part at all in the story and also bothered me a lot throughout the drama... I think that character development is one of the most important things a drama needs to have, and in the case of Destined With You it was almost like it wasn't really there.

the comedy scenes were not really helpful with the drama pace at all and this drama almost needs to be cooked 😂 you have to wait quite some episodes for the story to flow and to be a little more interesting.

but even with the bad points I made, the drama is really entertaining and cute! the photography is beautiful and it might be worth it for you if you're really into romance and is interested somehow in the main cast. Jo Boah and Rowoon had great chemistry and their acting is so good here! I really want to see them work together again!

overall, this is a weak drama for me, but with some potential to be a cute and fun watch with a little patience. I don't usually rewatch shows, but even if I did, it would not be the case here.

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