Ji Chang Wook as the insanely ambitious PD Ma Dong Chan is the strongest character in the show and any fan of his will probably be tempted to keep watching just to see him. He is honestly great in his role but unfortunately, the script gives him not much good to work with. He's stubborn and single-minded and rude but at least his character had some passion and development. He's matched with Won Jin Ah as the brave and outspoken Go Mi Ran, who is also great in her role, but her character made even less sense to me, often contradicting herself, so her actions more than the performance was sometimes frustrating to watch. I don't consider it a spoiler to say that this is a rom-com about two people who are accidentally cryogenically frozen for 20 years. You would think that loss of time would be a major factor and what drives the story would be more sci-fi related, thriller related, or even emotional because of time lost from loved ones but instead, the majority of this drama is about how frustrating it is for two formerly frozen people to have a normal relationship and being unable to drink coffee. To me the relationship also felt forced from the start but because "Wookie" is so charming the most romantic moments are the best thing this drama has to offer. That doesn't mean I felt anything deeply for them as a couple, it just means that they knew how to deliver when it came down to romantic chemistry. They have quite a few cute and flirty moments but their shower scene is legendary.
The rest of the cast looked like they enjoyed working together but they were all one-note and over the top. I guess their goal was to be extra funny but instead it was silly and cheesy and I rolled my eyes more than I laughed. They did do a good job matching younger and older versions of the same characters, but I honestly cared so little about the other characters that it didn't matter. Usually, I'm a softie when it comes to stories about nostalgia but with this one, I felt absolutely nothing. That may be because characters basically stayed caricatures with little to no depth. Even her special-needs brother felt like a joke sometimes and don't get me started on the silliness of the "Professor" who ran the experiment. Shallow characters also lead to a very repetitive plot, which really stands out when the story is already weak.
The greatest offense this drama committed is creating an elaborate premise for why everything in this drama happened in the first place and then resolved it in the laziest, most anti-climactic way possible. One "bad" character literally only shows up to do bad things and doesn't even get more than a brief mention in the final episode. It was insulting how little effort went into creating a logical story out of a premise with so many possibilities. I really can't say I was disappointed though because I knew it was bad and watched it anyway. I can say that the second greatest offense this drama committed was dragging out the ending with ridiculous last-minute obstacles, and scenes that literally felt like place holders with no purpose or structure, only to end with a resolution that felt unresolved and shrug-worthy with a cheap metaphor thrown in that played off of the cold theme (ugh!).
The answer to whether or not I would watch this again is obvious. Of course not. What I will probably watch multiple times is that shower scene, which is the only reason the rewatch score is at 1.5.
The music was very forgettable.
Overall this drama is a complete waste of time unless you really love Ji Chang Wook so much that you can watch his smile at anything no matter what's happening around him, but in that case why not just follow him on Instagram instead? Part of me hopes that he and Jin ah may get a do-over drama with a better script one day but I doubt that would be in high demand after this one. This drama would have left me with so many unanswered questions if I cared enough about the story but I didn't. I also know I'm not the only one who's emotions ran cold watching this based on other reviews (yes, it's really as bad as most of us are saying). Many parts felt rushed and predictable yet also dragged out. The pace of this drama was a little like watching a block of ice melt... I knew that it would end in a mess all over the place... like a puddle, but I still watched this drama literally melt into that mess anyway. I would never recommend this drama, but If this drama touched on any important theme (barely) it's that it's important to be mindful of not wasting your life on things that don't matter. To avoid wasting time on this drama just read the synopsis, watch the shower scene (not the episode just that scene), and have someone spoil the ending for you instead. Trust me. If you did sit through all 16 episodes most of it would be forgettable anyway so just like Mi Ran and Dong Chan pretend you were frozen while this show was airing and just skip it and move forward with your life.
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The drama had some nice elements in the first episodes. There was some potential about the whole freezing the main couple plot. However, the rest of the drama was boring. The story was messy, the romance forced and most of the scenes cheesy and predictable. The addition of the mystery-political trope was just not well developed and often forgotten in some episodes. Some characters, too, were annoying.
So, overall, three out of ten.
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"It’s a story about a man and a woman who participated in a project to be frozen for 24 hours". Sounds interesting right? But what killed it for me already is the "only to be awakened 20 years later due to a mysterious scheme." I hated this part of the plot. I felt like the cast for the main leads would had a better relation with every character, had the cast remain as their younger counterpart. It was just too awkward having an old person acting young because they're technically the lead's younger siblings or younger co-workers. That just didn't work for me. I had to skip those scenes because it's too cringing for me. Don't get me wrong. I'm not bashing the older cast for their acting. I just think that it would've flow a bit better had it only been 5 years later. Then the cast would've remained the same and at least it would've been a bit more watchable.But even if the cast remained as their younger counterpart, the plot wasn't all that great. We had this bad guy who wanted to destroy all evidence of this “Frozen Human Project,” just so he can keep his fake identity and get rid of his twin brother. He did everything from murdering his sister in-law & a professor that Professor Gap Soo was under & attempted murder of Professor Gap Soo and his assistant. He did all of that just to easily be arrested with still 4 episodes left. That made the rest of the drama pretty boring in my opinion. But how did the writer try to not make it boring? Keep one of the villain's goon still around, trying to hunt the main leads down which leads to a stabbing towards the end. What was the point of this? The evil dude is in jail so why would this goon still want to help out someone who has no power anymore? That doesn't make sense. What's worse is that there wasn't even a scene of his capture, just verbal words and a phone call about his capture. Talk about anti-climatic for the crime the goon did to Mi Ran. Because of this, we spent the last few episodes of pretty much everybody in sadness. This was a waste for the final week of airing.
Chemistry felt forced between the leads. I didn't see the connection. Because they both were stuck in a capsule, all of the sudden they like each other? Yeah right. I felt more sorry for Ha Young because she still loved him all this time and yet Dong Chan changes love because of being part of this project. He made her suffer for no reason. The love relationship between Mi Ran and Dong Chan isn't great either. A lot more bickering between each other from start to finish.
Others problems I had:
- It was never revealed who expose Mi Ran's participation in the frozen human project. We as the viewers had a guess who it was but the rest of the characters never dig deeper into this issue. Why did that random worker girl do it? We'll never know and we'll never see her get punish for it.
- This drama tries too hard to be funny. A lot of scenes that were suppose to be funny weren't funny at all.
- The writers trying to develop a second lead between Mi Ran and a student, who's suppose to be 20 years younger than her. Ew.
Ji Chang Wook is a great actor but this drama doesn't show any of his acting attributes which is a bummer. Won Jin Ah is an actress I will keep an eye on but again, I'm not sure if I would remember her role from this drama.
Overall, it's a different story situation, being handled pretty poorly. I say look for other dramas unless you really want to watch it because of the cast.
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Does not deliver its promising premise and instead digresses into the utmost bonkerness...
When a PD makes a variety show about a cryogenics experiments, Ma Dong Chan and Go Mi Ran, a part-timer struggling with family debts, participates in the "24-Hour Frozen Human Project.", but they are accidentally frozen for 20 years. To survive, they must maintain a body temperature below 33°C, while seeing all of their loved ones aged 20 years!The premise about two people being the sole survivors of a truly unique traumatic incident, is a creative premise, but I can’t enjoy my drama if I can’t get on board with the story and the characters. To me, Melting Me Softly does not deliver its’ potential and instead digresses into the utmost bonkerness... I got really bored when the show becomes more of an office romcom with a jarring murder mystery in the latter part. Of course, it can make an interesting subplot, but shouldn’t they focuses mainly on the characters and their love developing firsthand?
Ji Chang Wook, being our male lead Dong Chan. Honestly, his character doesn't leave very much of an impression, and my liking for his character is truly driven by the actor. Even though he is so cute, act so well and have good chemistry with Won Jin Ah, their romance feels forced since they both have no relationship outside of colleagues, I am not seeing any buildup towards them as a couple. I feel the true love story would be between Dong Chan and his previous love Na Yeong, rekindling a true love story that transcends age differences and experiences. I would love to see them finding each other again after time apart and forgiving each other. To not end this on a negative note, I got to give a shout-out to one kiss scene, which is pure brilliance–in order to keep their temperatures and heart rates at a safe level–Dong Chan turns on the shower and kisses Mi Ran, with both fully-clothed. Talk about one of the most steamiest kdrama kisses out there.
-Dec 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge
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I was frustrated with the plot of Na Ha Young (Yoon Se Ah) and Ma Dong Chan (Ji Chang Wook). I really think that they could develop a real problem with their relationship and this would be very instigating! But how they showed this, I thought sometimes that Ha Young was freeze for 20 years and Dong Chan was waiting here. They totally invert their feelings and this made their story very difficult to understand. They really could make something very cool, and I don't even like love triangles, but I was hoping for something exciting.
I would like to see more of Go Nam Tae (Yoon Na Moo). He started being so important to Go Mi Ran (Won Jin Ah) and with the process just lost the power. The same with the plot of Hwang Byung Shim (Shim Hyung Tak). I think they just showed a lot of possibilities and at the end just worried about the main couple and that was all. It isn't the worst thing, but for me it is very amateur.
The ending was very boring for me too. I had the feeling that the story was finished in episode 12 and after that, they just try to fill the episodes with anything. The "problem" that came out was aleatory and so easily resolved that I already knew how everything will end up. The last episode and the little "crisis" that we saw with the main couple were revolting to me. After all, they tried to convert the bold and courage of Go Mi Ran (Won Jin Ah) into coldness and I don't think that she's like that at all, at least don't in the process before...
Anyway! I don't think this was a great drama, for me was just more of the same. I keep loving Ji Chang Wook, but I wanna see him in something more exciting now.
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Slow, boring and all over the place
I'm not someone who gives into reviews and if the reviews are especially bad (like here with Melting Me Softly), it makes me actually really intrigued to watch it. So I did...and what a mistake I have made!Before I get into what's wrong with this drama (and there will be a lot), I'll start with the positives. The first two episodes were actually pretty good and promising. Basically, the story before Mi Ran and Dong Chan defrosted 20 years later. There were moments that could've been done differently (ie Mi Ran catching her boyfriend cheating and literally flying in the air like a seagull to kick him in the face). I really liked Mi Ran's relationship with her brother (which was basically forgotten in the second half of the show). Ji Chang Wook's (Dong Chan) acting and Yoon Se Ah's (Dong Chan's ex) acting felt like the only realistic and watchable ones. Won Jin Ah (Mi Ran) had her moments as well but her acting in a lot of scenes was way over-the-top.
Now what I couldn't stand in the drama (and there's a lot): 1) Most characters' reactions (or should I say overreactions). Especially Dong Hyuk (Mi Ran's ex), Dong Chan's sister, and his best friend Hyun Ki. Most of the characters kept on yelling, crying, and stuttering and their expressions were over-the-top in a lot of the scenes. Technically speaking most main and supporting characters were in their 40s (as well as 50s) yet they kept acting like toddlers. It became unbearable just 3 episodes in.
2) The dialogue. I'm not someone who's usually reacting to the dialogue and don't usually comment on it but a lot of the dialogue didn't make sense.
3) The recast. 20 years later and the production decided to completely recast the cast - except the main couple - instead of making the original actors look a little older which made them completely unrecognizable for Dong Chan and Mi Ran.
4) Mi Ran and Dong Chan's chemistry. It just wasn't present, especially from Mi Ran's side. I feel like it would be more interesting if the writers just focused on the struggle of adapting to a new world and reconciling with their old love interests and then them slowly building their relationship (slow-burn). Instead, there were little-to-no signs of romantic interest between the two, they didn't appear to be into each other at all but suddenly, they are together. Plus Dong Chan's obsessiveness over Mi Ran.
5) The whole increase-temperature-and-you-die plot/idea. Their temperature can't go over 33 degrees Celsius so when they kiss, Dong Chan pushes Mi Ran under a cold shower so they can kiss while having cold water stabilizing their temperature to remain below 31.5 degrees. Okay...however, on multiple occasions, the whole idea went out the window. For example, when Dong Chan was carrying Mi Ran and running to the hospital in episode 5, his shirt was soaked with sweat indicating he worked out a lot. Body temperature rises when exercising yet he was fine the whole time.
6) Glorification of domestic abuse and anger issues/problems. Mi Ran beat up her ex-boyfriend multiple times. The violence in this show was made into a humoristic aspect.
7) Bong Chan's possessiveness. He told Mi Ran to stop smiling at another man, he literally says (episode 6, around 26:45): "I don't mind if a woman is ugly, eats a lot...but I really hate it when a woman swears and hits people." as he owns her. It did add to his character but again, the romanticization of this trait is just not okay. He became even more obsessive with her later on.
8) The second half of the drama just became boring. So many things were happening yet nothing was getting solved, the plot was all over the place and a lot of scenes were made unnecessarily long (multiple shots of the same scene, long pauses between talking, slow-talking etc...).
...and more...
To end this, I was really let down with his one. In my personal opinion, Ji Chang Wook carried the show but even he couldn't save the later episodes (eps 12-16). The plot had so much potential in the first two episodes but it truly went downhill after the main couple defrosted, even more in the second half.
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This drama doesn't do any justice to JCW's comeback.Where do I start.. extremely draggy, uninteresting plot and the extra characters are just straight up annoying. It's supposed to be a romantic comedy but the humor isn't funny at all. The story had so much potential but its ruined by the terrible writing. The whole tone of the drama feels off. There were times when I just wanted to stop watching because it is so god damn boring.
**SPOILER ALERT**
For a show involved with cryonics, I would expect the story to depict more of their struggles to fit into the modern society, but they just moved on so fast??
Also, the female lead was really angry at the TV company for losing 20 years of her life due to the experiment. An episode later, she is suddenly interning for the company like nothing happened
Was the scene where they were kidnapped in the freezer truck supposed to be funny?
The first kiss scene felt so forced and sudden that its laughable..
After SIX EPISODES, the only thing the male lead did was to get his old job back. THAT IS LITERALLY IT.
There are just so many faults in this drama that I don't know how tvN thought it was a good idea to produce this.
Also, as of writing this review, EP9 had a rating of 1%, for a drama on a prime time slot on tvN. Ratings speak for themselves.
Don't waste your time on this.
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What I liked
I can't remember even after watching several episodes as they aired.
Loved the FL voice, I thought she was another actress (w/ chin surgery, my apologies to both)
What I didn't like
The discussions on age were and honorifics was a reliable trope for humor but, gets old quick when you realize everything else lacks.
The colors. Seems like 85% of the dramas are doing the "peachy, turquoise" Instagram filter on everything this year.
The second female lead actress is completely wasted here. She is a good actress and by the time they gave her something to do besides repeating the same lines over and over, I dropped it.
The vintage items to represent the 90s(mainly the last half) was laughable. I sell vintage for a living and also lived through the 90s on very modest means so, no, we weren't running around with walkman's that played cassette tapes.
People forget the Matrix was out and we used Cds and DVDs.
Avoid this one unless your folding laundry or want something on while studying.
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After reading some of the reviews I was a bit sceptical about watching the drama but I made up my mind to risk it because after all the lead is Ji Chang Wook. After watching the first 3 episodes I thought well some of the jokes are really cheesy and I hate cheesy jokes but I kept laughing uncontrollable (maybe that was a Chang Wook effect ??). Few more episodes in and the storyline got emotional, comic relief was offered at the right time, no more cheesy jokes and everything just came together wonderfully. Reading reviews are good but it's best to dive right in and form an opinion for yourself and that is what I did and now I don't have no regrets. Ji Chang Wook nailed it again and his onscreen chemistry with Won Jin A is heart fluttering, I got butterflies a few times ?? give it a watch ??? Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Soon I was proven right to not expect anything as the beginning was dragging already. We get a lot of insight into the life of the main leads which is not that interesting.
Then when the experiment goes all wrong and they wake up 20 years later you might think now it's picking up pace but instead we see overacted (fake) drama and comedy. The side characters are annoying, especially Ma Dong Chan's family and the female lead's ex yet they get a lot of screen time which is a waste. The funniest parts were those with Ma Seo Yoon (Ma Dong Chan's niece) or the female lead's brother which became my favorite characters beside the professor's aide. The main couple lacks chemistry in my opinion which was the least thing I could care about.
The worst was the draggy story with lots of unnecessary side and cliché plots. I was able to predict the end in detail because it was also cliché. They tried making the end exciting yet it only left a lame impression.
I feel sorry for the cast because I think they can do so much better and I don't blame them, but the script. Have nothing to say about the music as I can't even remember it so it surely wasn't outstanding. For me there's zero rewatch value, as it has more negative aspects than good ones.
So to make it short, I would recommend not to bother and go watch something else.
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The overall drama is very enjoyable. Yes, I sometimes skip scenes, but that is nothing unusual (for me). The actors are not at all disappointing and did a good job. The story is okay and the music is mediocre. The rewatch value is a little low since some dramas are not that rewatchable to me.
I may not have the opinion as others since I judge the drama based on the overall feeling, not analysing each part. But I can say that the drama isn't half bad as it might seem from some comments. I look forward to watching each episode, but not as much as I would've with some other dramas (Hotel Del Luna, Strong Woman etc...). Yes, it's not an excellent drama but it is something nice to watch
I'm not really good with reviews, but my main point is that you should watch first episodes to judge the drama for yourself since the ratings vary so much. :)
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