Dear. M

While the whole love triangle trope set in high school or university has been consistently done in many K-dramas, Dear. M still somewhat feels like a breath of fresh air. In an array of dark, suspenseful, political, and thrilling K-dramas, this series is exactly what we need.

Of course, there are still tons of K-dramas out there that have a similar plot, but one thing that stands out in Dear. M is the fact that it is told in a different point-of-view. Other series with the love triangle-in-a-campus plot often features a wealthy, heir, and smart male lead who has all the chance to win the heart of the female lead. Meanwhile, the second lead is characterized as the one closer to the female lead, but fails to become her "happily ever after". This series portrays the male lead, Cha Min-ho, as the seemingly hopeless romantic best friend of Ma Joo-ah. Here, he competes with Moon Joon, the son of a wealthy CEO. In other words, it seems like their roles have been switched.

Performance wise, I want to praise the main cast for giving such natural performances. What makes it all so different is how it doesn't feel forced and cringey; the actors are portraying their characters in such a natural way that perfectly fits the lighthearted theme of the series. Also, kudos to Jaehyun, Jinhyuk, and Eunbin for their acting despite being known more as K-pop singers.

Dear. M features a coming-of-age romantic story that we have seen before; just in a different perspective. This drama is an ode to the classic K-drama love story archetype, giving us a new story while still sticking to what we are already familiar with.

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.

Best thing about this K-Drama is that it is Jaehyun's (Jeong Jae-hyun) debut as an actor. He is member of South Korean boyband NCT. He plays the main lead Cha Min-ho as a college student as a Computer Science. Major and an app developer who falls for the girl who has been his 12 year friend. It is just one of the love relationships showcased in this short 12 episode series with a mystery of who confessed love anonymously. There are clues along the story that could fit to different situations and actors, so it keeps you guessing. The script itself it slowing and boring at times, no fault of the actor, and Jeong Jae-hyun did a great job on the role and look forward to seeing him more!!!

Before we head into Jaehyun's acting, I will briefly say why I gave this kdrama a 10/10 rating. I loved it. Simply as that. Quite cliche but it doesn't affect my opinion. Now about Jaehyun, he is GOOD, contrary to what I saw on twitter from people who never even watched the series. He still has room for improvements and that's just right since this is his first acting experience. But take note: THAT DOES NOT MAKE ONE A BAD ACTOR. Honestly, he is way too good for a first-time idol actor. As a common viewer and a non-Jaehyun stan, I say I'm impressed even though it's his first time. His acting isn't cringey like other kdrama male leads, it's very in-character. His eyes show so much that he doesn't need to open his mouth or scream "I'M SAD! I'M GONNA CRY!" for me to feel the pain his character feels. I empathized with his character because of Jaehyun's acting, I applaud him for that one. Not every actor can do that without providing a white actor's Oscar-winning scene. Congratulations actor Jaehyun!

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...