Love All Play (2022)

Melodrama with some sports and romance elements

This started off quite well; it had a lot of promise and I liked it better than 2521 ( which I dropped at Ep 14) It’s not a rom-com, that’s why I say it’s a melodrama- which means there’s a lot of crying, relationship problems, unresolved past issues and wait... more crying.

The FL is an ex-national team badminton player. She “ran away” for three years because of an incident and has never resolved it. The ML is a promising badminton player who had been hiding behind his sister’s shadow his whole life and is desperate for his parents and the world’s attention. Both found solace and comfort in each other, and eventually love starts to develop. They are quite cute together, and there is some skinship ;) but it’s not the centre of the storyline.

You have your typical side couples, side teammates who initially hate you, treat you badly then after a long while start to stand up for you and encourage you. Some issues with the writing and characters eg the coach. Head coach and assistant coach are pretty incompetent- very old school kind of training, not encouraging nor inspiring. [Spoiler: Male doubles team- one player pushed his partner to the floor, grabbed his racket to hit the shuttlecock. Umm.. I don’t think that kind of play is EVER allowed on the court. End spoiler]

Initially rated it a 8/10, now dropping it to a 7.5. It’s getting kinda slow and draggy. Let’s see how it develops and ends. ;)

Update: Ending was a nice wrap up of all characters. I still didn’t like the mother: it remained quite draggy throughout the last 5 episodes which was unfortunate. I did complete it but ff here and there.

Leia Mais

One of the weaker rom coms of 2022

I´m a sucker for well-made rom coms. Even if they are full of clichés, I actually don´t really care as long as they are successfully played out. Of course chemistry between the lead characters and supporting cast are a must; story line, strong and/or witty writing, great acting and well developed main characters with an appealing arc are also a must.

Unfortunately Love All Play does not check all the boxes, actually it only has two things going on for it, great acting and great chemistry from the leading actors, the rest ìs MIA.

I´m surprised I´m saying this because I loved the opening two episodes, the set up and badmigton as the background was just very promising. I fooled myself thinking that if Love All Play was half as good as Racket Boys I was in for a treat, but oh boy oh boy it turned out just as bad, if not worse, than other recent droppable series such as 2521, Forecasting Love and Weather, Business Proposal, Our Beloved Summer, Shitting Stars, etc… list goes on. You got the point.

In 2022 the only two shows that I have actually enjoyed are Crazy Love and My Liberation Notes (which is not considered a rom com, but a slice of life).

What a waste of talent in Love All Play seriously. I really hope that Park Ju Hyun choses better projects with great characters in the future since I consider her one of the most talented and promising actresses of South Korea. Her portrayal of Bae Gyu Ri in Extracurricular set the bar quite high for herself and positioned herself as an actress capable of playing intense and complex characters. So I have to say that Love All Play is a total letdown.

Would I rewatch it or try to finish the series? No way in hell.

Would I recommend it to others? If you really don´t have a choice or if you´re brain dead, yes go ahead.

Leia Mais

Just mehh boring..

Actually, this drama is good if there are no childish problems. from the start I didn't feel happy about the problems in this drama from everyone who treated FL badly and FL who was very stupid felt guilty because of her own actions even though I don't think it was her fault either but she was too afraid to admit it and through it she made it worse chooses to hide it and prefers to put all the blame on him. On the other hand, ML comes like a warrior prince who wants to help his beloved woman through all trials. I don't know why I don't enjoy and don't like stories like this, even though I like romance dramas and ost dramas, but stories that I think are a waste of time are really unacceptable.

Leia Mais

Nice but yeah

This drama just so so. It's really nice to watch it when i got nothing to watch. Actually in the beginning this drama is so interesting, but when it come to episode 5, the drama became too slow and like making me ask about what the lead female do?

And actually what made me unable to give this drama a higher rating because at first I thought this drama would be about badminton. But in this drama they only practice and rarely compete. I'm just disappointed, because it can be more fun and interesting if they compete often.

I know romance is good, but in this drama too much romance and yeah... I like the chemistry, but I want more plot covered in this drama.

Leia Mais

A drama that you do not want to miss (2022)

I've been a k-drama die hard fan since 2015, and I took a couple months break. This drama was the one that got me back to the circle. I wanted to watch 2521, but I remember everyone was heartbroken by watching it, so I found an alternative, which is Love All Play, and I don't regret watching it.

Love All Play is a drama that is sweet, and not draggy. The couple is also very cute and straight-forward. The only thing that is kind of off is the FL expressions, which can sometimes come off as a bit flat and miss (?), but other than that, everything's perfect. I feel like the ML's actor will be the next Nam Joo Hyuk, I get the same vibes from him for some reason (idk maybe his character reminds me of ML in Kim Bok Joo)

Overall, this drama should've been hyped more, probably 2521 was so successful and it came out in the same year, and everyone says they're both similar. Plus I don't think this drama is considered a "melodrama" genre. Maybe counts as a rom-com more.. This is the drama for you if you love watching a light-hearted, straightforward drama.

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RESEÑA <3

Me a parecido una historia muy bonita y especial, llena de sentimientos, miedos y metas.
Si que es verdad que igual en algún capítulo se hace algo lenta, pero por lo demás, es un kdrama que recomiendo ver.
Su temática se centra la mayor parte en el deporte, pero también cuenta las historias de algunos de los personajes o de los principales.
En todos los dramas, te pueden gustar todos los personajes , pero yo creo que siempre hay alguno que se gana más el corazón del espectador que otros. En mi caso fue Yeon Seung-woo. Su forma de ser, su preocupación y su final, me conmocionó.
Los actores hicieron un trabajo estupendo y el OST es fantástico.
Quizá esta serie me haya recordado a la de 2521.

Leia Mais

overall a great drama

this drama was such comfort, especially if you’ve ever played a sport this drama is very very comforting. taeyang and taejun made such a great couple, one of the best i’ve seen so far, ‘cause they’re really the healer of each other, they can’t live without each other. one thing that I will point out is the behaviour of taejun’s mom: ‘cause
she really never cared about him, but only have seen her daughter her entire life. also I think that maybe more matches would’ve been great, just because there were too many episodes without matches. but overall such a great drama 100% recommend,

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Tienes que verlo

Me gustó mucho la historia, siento que es como un confort drama, siento que los colores, escenarios, la forma en la que hablan los 2 principales y lo que dicen son como "cozy". 100% recomendado aunque en un par de episodios se pone un poco lenta. Hay gente diciendo que tiene mucho contenido de badnington, pero es que si quitas ese contenido no sucederian muchas cosas de la historia. El drama no es de romance muy meloso, me hubiera gustado que young-shim tuviera su historia romántica al final, también me hubiera gustado que tae-joon y tae-yang tuvieran más citas y contenido más típico de kdrama de romance.

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A Melodrama - not a romantic comedy or a true sports drama

When one first read the synopsis of this drama and saw the poster for “Love All Play”, I think most viewers thought this is a sports drama + romantic comedy. Though there are some comedic moments, this is actually a melodrama. I saw that MDL tag and read a couple comments/reviews. So I am prepared for some angst and heartaches.

Badminton
I haven’t watched a drama about badminton yet and am interested in this, especially when the cast are adults and the setting is in the professional badminton world, and not in high school or college. However, this is not a true sports drama about our leads working hard and trying to be champions. Yes, they still work hard and try to accomplish their dreams, but the sport actually acts as a backdrop to the character development of Tae Yang (FL) and Tae Joon (ML) and how they battle demons in their personal lives. There are more badminton scenes in the first half of the drama and I do find all the action quite realistic. The camerawork really does make it seem like the actors are the ones playing badminton. The second half of the drama turns a lot more melodramatic and the badminton scenes decrease. You see most of the athletes just hanging out, chatting and supposedly training.

Acting/Main Characters
The acting is pretty good in this drama. I noticed I’ve seen all the main leads in other dramas, but the only ones I remember are Park Ju Hyun (Tae Yang) and Park Ji Hyung (Jun Young) . I’ve previously seen Park Ju Hyun in “Extracurricular” and it is quite nice to see her in a totally different character. Playing the female lead, I believe in her portrayal of Tae Yang and her struggles. I do think she cries too much in the second half of the drama, when she has been so tough and strong in the earlier episodes. I am not familiar with Cae Jong Hyeop and don’t remember him at all in “Hot Stove League”. But I think I will remember him now, especially his beautiful and adorable smile. The role of Tae Joon will gain him many new fans. Tae Joon is a walking green flag and we all want a boyfriend just like him - kind, caring, supportive, understanding, and give you space to process and work out your issues. For the first episode or two, I couldn’t distinguish Chae Jong Hyeop from Kim Moo Joon. They have a similar build and look. I am not very familiar with Kim Moon Joon and wasn't expecting a strong performance from him. And maybe my expectations are low, I ended up liking his character and how his character changes from an annoying badminton star to a silly and shy lovesick boy (in a way). On the contrary, I do find Seo Ji Hye’s portrayal of Yoo Min a little annoying. Not that I don’t like a girl who takes the initiative to go for her crush, but her character is a little ditzy, a little fiery, a little stalkerish? Last but not the least, Park Ji Hyun is the most recognizable actor for me in this drama. I’ve seen her as the second female lead in so many dramas. Her character as Jun Young here is not going to make you love her, but you have to applaud her acting because you definitely might not like her here and that’s because she’s doing a good job.

Melodrama
As I mentioned, this is not a romantic comedy. The melodrama vibes are strong in the second half of the drama. To me, there’s too much crying and it took a little too long for the cat to be out of the bag. The drama’s pacing would be better if this drama is only 12-episode long instead of 16. I don’t think there’s really a bad character in this drama, it’s just the accident affects each character in a different way and they have their own ways to get over that hump. Jung Young could easily be the most hated character, but her suffering is so different from Tae Yangs’. It’s true that she could have handled her disappearance a little better, especially her attitude towards Jung Hwan. But when you are in a bad mental state and try to forget what happened, she might not have the mental capacity to care about others. Is Tae Yang the only person at fault? Not necessarily as after all, it’s an accident. But her immaturity and rash judgment caused the accident. Athletes should take special care of their bodies to avoid any unnecessary injuries. I assume all athletes know this and should be in their professional contract. But after suffering for 3 years, it should be enough. She had such a hard life and I am glad she met Tae Joon. They are each other’s light for different reasons and it’s great to see how honest they are with each other. Jung Hwan is probably the most pitiful character in this situation. He’s the one who tried to stand by her girlfriend but ended up being abandoned and with no closure. I guess it takes a nutty/silly character like Yoo Min to break that hardened shell of his.

Main Romance
I really enjoy the main romance between the Park twins. As I said, Tae Joon is a walking green flag. He’s the only one who loves Tae Yang unconditionally, giving her what she wants the most. In return, he gets what he wants from Tae Yang - someone who believes in him and loves him for who he is, not because he is someone’s sister. Their initial interaction is fun and I love the banter. They actually got together as a couple quite early on (K-drama standards). I am glad to see they continue to have that friendly banter while being in love with each other. I hate it when lovers lose their original personalities when they are in a relationship.

Overall, I had a good time watching this drama. I like all the badminton scenes and especially the romance of the Park twins. Just don’t expect this to be a sweet and fluffy romantic comedy. I also like the Korean title “Going to You at a Speed of 493 km” so much more than the cheesy English title, “Love at Play”.

Leia Mais

THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A LIGHT SPORT ROM COM, FUN FACT IT WAS NOT JUST THAT.

The amount of times my heart broke watching this, were way to many. I really thought it was a light rom com about two people who played badmition together and fall in love, but its actually about two really broken people who just hold on to each other while playing badmiton and fall in love.

The storyline is very interesting in general, but i think they drag it a bit, they could resolve the whole accident thing in less episodes, i get that it was not just an accident because she lost something she loved but i think they gave Tae Yang way to much hate, she didnt do it on purpose and Jun Young isnt a child that was force to do anything. They really made me believe that the whole accident thing was 10 times worst at first, the way Tae Yang hated herself and the way Jung Hwan treated her seemed like she killed someone. The love story between the Park Twins was so cute, like they way Tae Joon loved her and tried so hard to be with her, even if everyone was against him, made my heart flutter. Their entire relationship was so well played. The first couple of episodes were really light, full of comedy and romance but after a while the drama turn into a melodrama, the Park Twins became the depressing twins that always cried, especially Tae Yang, it was quite tiring to watch for 5 episodes maybe even more a person cry and beg for something that wasnt even her entire fault. Also with all this dramatic moments there was like zero time to watch them play badmition, i hope they had include more of their matches in the drama.

The characters were well written and very interesting. Park Tae Joon stole my heart, the way he was so cute and caring all the time was so beautiful, he only gave love when love had barely been given to him, his parents pissed me of so much, the way they treated him like he was less, i really believe that Tae Yang gave him the love he never got from this family and that is way he always wanted to choose her even when she pushed him away. Park Tae Yang had so much trauma in her life, she blamed herself and let everyone treat her horribly, thinking that this way she could redeem her self, all the times she cried and begged for forgiveness made me mad, she really deserved better, thank God she got a guy like Tae Joon who always had her back. All characters were great, the teamplayers and the coaches, they all gave so much in this drama.

I loved the main couple like i said before, i was not a big fan of the second lead couple, i guess i just couldnt like the girl, Jung Hwan was so annoying at first but after a while he was one of the best characters, i loved his relationship with Tae Joon, their interactions gave me life, also the way he rebulit his relationship with Tae Yang was great as well. I really liked the other couples between the Yunis too.

Overall, its a good drama to watch, with great romance and some good comedy scenes, but i should warn you is deeper then it looks and the characters have a lot of trauma.

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