Geunyeoneun Geojitmaleul Neomoo Saranghae

This is a (literal) sneak peek of the music industry in South Korea. It showed the "niceties" of the field. Still, I liked the fact that the drama focused and delved into the lives of only a handful of people, with their relationships well intertwined. The simplicity of the story is another plus for me. The conflicts that arose were highly relatable and resolutions were mature and rational. It (surprisingly) got me watching nonstop.

Manga adaptations are often disappointing, but I liked the original manga (Kanojo wa uso wo Aishisugiteiru) enough to give this drama a chance. And to my pleasant surprise, although it did take a lot of liberties with the original story, I still totally loved it!

As with most manga, the story's premise is a bit unrealistic and does require some suspension of disbelief (though less than the original, I thought). In addition, while most of the characters still have their original personalities, the flow of events and character histories in the story have been significantly altered or rearranged.

Normally, these kinds of changes would annoy me, but in this case, I thought they added a great deal of depth, realism and humanity which helped to flesh out the original characters. Unlike the manga which focused primarily on simply moving the characters through various situations/events, the show looks at how those situations/events impact the characters internally and highlights their resulting development. There is a great deal of psychology and commentary on personal motives, which I found totally riveting.

This approach also helped me make sense of some things that I couldn't fully understand in the original work (such as Shinya/ChanYoung's bitterness toward Aki/HanKyul or Director Takagi/Choi's true intentions as their boss). Then again, if psychology isn't your cup of tea, you may find the storytelling pretty dull.

On top of a well directed story, the script, acting and soundtrack were all very polished. If you like manga (especially Josei), k-pop, k-dramas, and don't mind treating this show as a stand alone product, you might be pleasantly surprised! Recommended.

ROMANCE RATING: 7/10 There are only a few kiss scenes, but I thought they were beautiful, emotional, and I completely bought the main characters' chemistry. Though I will say I was a teeny bit disappointed that, unlike the manga (which has some extremely heated kisses), the k-drama keeps the romance strictly light and fun. But it's ok for what it is.

Let's be honest, I watched this because of Jang Ki-young and Song Kang, who are both having a year right now... I kept seeing this title pop up, and when I realized they were both in it, I figured, Why not? Could be fun to see them together in some of their early work, right? Well...

I am halfway through at this point, and...perplexed... I am not a quitter, but I am finding very little to keep me watching this mess... The story (assuming there is one) is terribly disjointed... it can't seem to figure out where to focus... it's murky and lacks commitment, which is unfortunate, because there are some actors in here who are committed to their roles...

The most important thing for me in watching a drama or movie is the performance...are the actors intimately familiar with the characters they are playing, and committed to their truth... the story comes second... So, for that reason only, I have been hanging in... That said, some of the actors are not pulling their weight... I realize that a lot of these actors are young, and many lack experience, but...some of them are just clearly doing a better job than others... The male lead is doing a reasonable job...although I often don't understand what he is doing (or thinking), I blame the writer and director for that (also, choppy editing doesn't help)... the female lead is...not great... some of this may be blamed on the director... I realize she is young, and I guess this is her first role, so... I understand she has a new drama coming soon, so it will be interesting to see how she's grown as an actress... I find no fault with the work of Lee Jung-Jin, who I have only seen a couple of times, but who is solid here... the female CEO/whatever is a bit over-the-top in my opinion, not sure if that is the actress or the director's fault...

The actors who have impressed me the most are actually Jang Ki-young, who, while not having a lot of screen time so far, is fully embodying his character, and Kim Sung-joo, with whom I am completely unfamiliar, but who certainly seems to know what he's doing here...I will check out his later work... This is also Song Kang's very first outing (Jang Ki-young had already put away several dramas at this point), so...he has clearly picked up a lot of skills in the last four years, as his recent work will attest...

The biggest problem is the writing/direction... but I will hang to the end, and if things improve, I will change my rating...

I really wanted to like this Korean romance series since it's based on a manga but yeah, it just didn't interest me enough to watch it further. Luckily from reading the comments here, I didn't waste my time with it..

It's a very different show. I really enjoyed the music, the acting and the simplicity of the show. Worth giving a try- you might end up dancing to their tunes 😊