I am not always into K-Dramas, and having heard about the messy production behind this one (and 2 years of delays before its release) I had very little hope that this would be very good, and that hope went down the drain when I heard the way it was being released - surely, they must not have much faith in it if they're going to sell it as a glorified NFT in 2024? But it was shocking how well-executed this was all things considered.
The production issues are obvious - there are some glaring scene-level continuity errors and of course a whole host of loose ends left untied, but its all still presented in a way that worked as a really good season of TV. The script and much of the plotting is great, much better than I had thought it would be, and the direction and cinematography is excellent, but the show is absolutely CARRIED by the cast. They really got seven young powerhouse actors for this, each a perfect fit for their role. It blows my mind that almost half of them have hardly if ever had a main role in a drama before. Standouts for me are Kim Yoonwoo as Haru and Jung Woojin as Jooan, with honorable mentions to Noh Jonghyun as Cein and Jeon Jinseo as Jeha but there really isn't a weak link among the seven main actors. If you're a BTS fan, they do a really good job of being reminiscient of the members and the way they played their HYYH characters without ever feeling like they're just doing impressions. And you do 100% care about the characters for themselves, not just as extensions of the BTS members or something.
The show really focuses in on the characters and their relationships with one another and I think that saves it from its sometimes messy plot progression. Left me secretly wishing for a season 2, although a part of me almost feels like it's even better with its ambiguous, almost Christopher Nolan-esque ending.
