Dear. M

I heard about this drama a lot on twitter and as a k-drama fan, I was initially not interested because the trailer seems to show a typical k-drama plot about a campus love triangle. But I still checked the first episode out and I was impressed with how non-cringeworthy it is compared to the ones I watched before. It's very straight to the point about the plot, no sways and deep backstories about the characters and just keeps the focus on the 6 main characters. I think this is because it only has 12 episodes, unlike other k-dramas with similar plots where the show would go through a relationship arc that would eventually turn boring, predictable, unnecessary, and cringeworthy. The series ended with the plot resolved and it's very satisfying. The acting is also very natural and not over-the-top, which is just what's necessary. The plot twist was very unexpected too.

A very poorly done series. The acting is very bad, amateurish, the script seems to have been written by a 10-year-old child, probably the actors behaved accordingly. Male characters unnatural, like plastic dolls to speak the text and not a living being, especially the two main male characters. The dialogues are so shallow that it's simply unbelievable that someone couldn't write a normal script. Another in a series of series where the selection of actors was based on how they look and not how they act...

Just not enough.

This is okay, but too unidimensional characters, nothing special or deep about any of their personalities. The FL is just silly, innocent and sweet, the ML is smart, loyal and secretly in love.... And so on. Filled with stereotypical clichés and doesn't really have enough push.

Good for teenagers I guess.

I'm a huge sucker for cute little romantic kdramas, so I made sure to check this one out on Viki. There are many characters, but everyone provides an important part in the story. No fillers at all.

What made me think this is the perfect college romance is its theme and atmosphere. It's cute and very lighthearted, and the theme really makes me feel like I go to college with them. I can compare it to Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo (AKA my favorite of all time) for how natural it is. Not corny and cheesy, but it still touches quite a few common k-drama scene tropes I adore.

Now let's get to the talk of the town... JAEHYUN. Non NCT fan here, and I did not watch this for him, but I knew most viewers came for him so might as well I talk about his performance. Very good acting from him... not perfect, but also not bad. I see his skills and I believe giving him a more complex role next time would let us see his real potential, because roles like this in lighthearted rom-coms aren't exactly what we should judge an actor for. I also found out it's his first ever acting role so I'm even more impressed with him.

For the rest of the cast, everyone did great. Hyesoo is very talented, and a good singer too which I did not expect. I really like her as an actress, but not so much as a person (because you know...).

So, to end this pretty long thing I typed, I wanna say this has become one of my favorite college kdramas. I love the longing from Minho, the plot twist, the characters, their personalities, and so on and so forth. 10/10 from me!

Right off the bat, the drama did a poor job establishing the mysterious M and its mystery. The story was so soulless and shallow it made the 12 episodes runtime so damn dreadful. The whole trio couples were lackluster from all angles, both the actors and their characters. Dialogue was riddled with platitudes and awkward exchanges, making each interaction painful. Even the central mystery, which could have been the saving grace, was handled so clumsily that it failed to generate any suspense or intrigue. The mysterious M could've been an alien for all I care. The ML's sister was the only real sensible semi-functional piece of story in the entire thing. One more thing: from a production standpoint, it adopted the deplorable style of cutting everything short and prematurely; nothing plays in full.