Rochelle Almonte

Starring:

Kim Tae-ri as Na Hee-do

Nam Joo-hyuk as Baek Yi-jin

Summary:

This show is about a girl who reads her mother’s diary. Because of that, we get to see what happened to her mom back in the late 90s where she excelled in fencing and fell in love for the first time.

My review (spoiler free):

What I liked:

• The coming of age aspect of the series was very well-done. I watched this group of friends grow up and it was very well executed that I cared about each and every one of them.
• The romance: It wasn’t forced and it didn’t feel cliché. I loved watching their friendship develop before they got together. I’m not only talking about the main couple, but the second couple as well.
• The side characters: Honestly, this is one of the best group of friends in all kdramas I watched thus far. Like I said, I cared about all of them. They were all unique in their own way and they brought something different to the story.
• The soundtrack: To this day, I still listen to the OST. My favourite is probably Very, Slowly by BIBI (favourite moment was the end of episode 13)

What I didn’t like as much:

• Yu-rim’s bully character: I mean, yes, she’s supposed to be mean at first, but it got to thepoint where I started to hate her character because of what she keeps telling Hee-do. I think the writers went a little overboard, but it all turned out well, so I can’t complain much. I also started to understand why she was like that.
• Historical event inclusion: So, they included 9/11 in this series (I don’t know if that’s a big spoiler, if yes, I apologize). At first, I was surprised, but then I thought it made sense because the story was taking place at that time; they can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. On the other hand, I was surprised that they made it actually a big part of the last few episodes. I think they could’ve used a different reason or circumstance for the outcome of the whole story.
• Hee-do’s mother: They didn’t have a good relationship, and later on they made up, but I expected a better conversation or scene with just Hee-do and her mother. I was just disappointed with how their relationship was handled in the second half.

Overall, this series is one of my favourites. Yes, I liked the ending; I understand how it turned out. It was realistic in my opinion.

Let me know your thoughts if you’ve watched this series.

R.A.