This drama has been a very fulfilling experience from beginning to end. Show of the year so far! A list of amazing elements:
- The pilot episode: Hear me out, every kdrama so far for me has been a struggle to get into. No pilot episode by itself has ever held my attention the way this one did. KHY’s acting alone in the first episode was enough to pull me in. They did an Excellent job on writing the best pilot episode in the entire dramaland!
- Excellent FL! One of the best FL’s I’ve ever seen in a kdrama. She’s brave, determined abd puts him first almost everytime. Also, the actress is incredibly entertaining and has the most cheerful temperament. She’s a delight to watch!
- A ML who is worth all of the struggles! Sun Jae(a)… is sweet, shy, caring (the whole list of positive adjectives lol), but also kind of an idiot/loser in front of Im Sol. He truly brings life to the show with his smile and infectious energy. (And his ‘aggressive’ kissing scenes ?)
- Usually I’m not the most interested in romantic shows, but this is certainly Romance done right! They’re overly cute, but when you consider the timelines and everything they went through, the cuteness/aegyo makes sense!
- The supporting cast (In Hyuk, grandma, Kim Tae Sung, mom, dad, manager) were all perfect in their respective roles. All of the supporting cast had their own mini story, and a purpose in the plot, which is refreshing since they weren’t simply adding pointless characters.
- The music/orgininal soundtrack from “Eclipse” charted for real in Korea, since that’s how amazing it is!
- Exceptional acting from all of the actors, but especially from BWS as this is his first large scale male lead role!
A few cons (unfortunately!) :
- I liked the best friend, but in the early episodes Im Geum and her story was the only parts I forwarded in the show. It didn’t hold my attention, seemed a little pointless, and it kind of made me cringe. (Like them happily married with kids in the future though!)
- Plot holes: regardless of how interesting or amazing the show is, it has quite a few plot holes. In one of the early episodes Sun Jae says “I would have still done swimming at 19 even if I knew how it would turn out.” That made me so sure he knew what was going on, or time travelled as well. Since the original webtoon has that story, perhaps they planned for it but changed it after? It was just a little strange that the ML ended up being more of Mary Sue character (very iconic lol) despite multiple parts that make you believe he knows what’s going on.
The time travel has some issues as well with timelines not matching up and some stuff they missed. Sun Jae’s unexplored depression and Sol’s disability were kind of pointless at the end and should’ve been explored more.
I’m not usually the person to say this, but there’s enough sadness and social commentary in real life. I like the idea of the leads having a miserable fate and a fun adventure which leads to a way happier ending. Ultimately, it’s good, direction, acting, singing, so I can overlook the writing here because of the joy these dumb characters bring. And the show is worth more than 1 watch, which isn’t something I’ve felt about any show before!