¡Doona!

Doona (Bae Suzy) is the front icon of an idol group, when she has a breakdown and drops out. She moves into a small rental complex where the other tenants are college students. Lee Won-joon (Yang Se-jong) also moves into the house.

Doona is a seeker, an insecure soul, self-destructive, unreliable and driven by impulse. Won-joon is cautious, controlled, and tied down. They are each other's opposites, but coincidences cause them to develop a fragile friendship and a mutual dependence on each other.

The plot is subordinate in this fine-tuned little gem where the actors get to excel in low-key portraits of two people who meet and become each other's lifeblood but also their greatest weakness, who challenge the other's self-image and shake up what they thought they knew about themselves, their life choices and their dreams.

Anyone looking for an easy-to-digest k-drama will be disappointed. It's low key, serious, slow and wistful. It is real and painful. The photography is fantastic, the soundtrack well chosen. The interaction is exquisite between Bae Suzy, who gives her (in my opinion) best performance, and the absolutely magnificent Yang Se-jong, who's performance goes straight to the heart.

This is the best I've seen this year. Possibly it could have benefited from a few more episodes, to deepen the characters' backstories somewhat, but that's just a small note in the margin. The ending is unexpected and can be interpreted in several ways, which is quite unusual in Korean series I've seen.

If you enjoyed My Liberation Notes, Our Blues and Nevertheless, this series is for you. I give it 9.5 out of 10 wistful hearts.

"Be careful when you're alone in a crowd. It's obvious."

"What do you mean? What's obvious?"

"Your loneliness."

Doona! Wasn't what I expected it to be, instead, it was much better. It was somber, mature, and it featured realistic dialogues.

"Your desperation to be loved, to try to compensate for never having it. You're afraid of losing people's interest."

I think Suzy did a good job portraying a female character as complex as Doona; a compulsive, miserable, and highly irresistible washed-up popstar desperate for love and attention driven by her abandonment issues.

"I wanna know what goes on in that mind of yours."

If you're looking for the usual fluffy Korean drama with feel good romance, skip this one. But if you want a more subtle and slow burn story with heartfelt confrontation scenes, go watch Doona.

It's always the jealous antis who are more motivated to give negative review. Doona trended, globally rated in top 5 or above, #1 in many countries including SK and in top #10 in many countries for over a month for a reason. Many will agree, Doona is strangely addictive, mainly because of the intense chemistry between Doona and Won Jun and the not obvious happily ever after ending. Yang Sejong is amazing as ever...showing why he was dubbed Monster Rookie his debut year and winning best actor awards. He really convinces as an innocent boy who has pure love for Doona yet manages to not completely lose himself, which makes him even more attractive to the viewers and Doona (versus being a completely lovesick doormat). Suzy is beautiful and part of the fascination is whether she as Doona really loves Won Jun...one can't help but doubt til the end. Not sure if that's good or not good enough acting on Suzy's part? She's definitely Doona tho.

It's refreshing that a love story especially a non action show can be so involving and so popular with audiences around the world. It shows more physical affection on screen than some previous dramas so things don't feel old fashioned. The POV is more the guy's. For a change 3 girls chase an ordinary guy. Suzy Bae has star quality and keeps you watching her. Given her background as an idol singer this role is tailor made for her. Her haistyle didn't suit her though. Yang Se Jong is well cast as the sweet innocent college student. The supporting cast is great and most K drama fans will recognize veterans cast as her mother (the funny North Korean villager from CLOY) and older manager played by Lee Jin Wook.

Actually the director also directed CLOY and the ending is similiar. Due to the silly idols having to be single requirement they can only meet overseas. Pay attention the opening scene of the last episode and the closing scene which are both set in Japan. The ending should have been clearer and not fragmented. Had to read up online to understand it.

The series itself is good, with interesting characters and a great story line...but the male protagonist's decision making in the last episode killed me. I can't recommend this unless you like unfulfilled hopes and expectations.

I am seriously confused and disheartened by the ending and the male protagonist's choice to become a worker drone. I am giving it a 5/10 because it is interesting and well done, and the female leads (all three of them) do an amazing job.

Another reviewer remarked that the director and writers apparently wrote this for the elites, and not normal folks looking for an escape. I couldn't agree more.

Also, I just couldn't understand all the smoking, what was that all about? It was really overdone and really detracted from some of the scene enjoyment at times. It also seemed kind of pointless and really didn't advance the story.

Give this a shot if you like, but you WILL be left with the could've been, should've beens with this series.