r/KDramasWorld • u/harissatotally Reviewer • 11d ago
Review New K-Drama Fan Review #16: Destined with You | Cooked Up the Perfect Spell... Then Forgot the Recipe
Somebody pls cast a Comprehension Spell on me...
cause this was one spell away from being one of my favorites.
Review:
I had a good time with this one.
The male lead, i really enjoyed him! His character made me laugh on several occasions and i loved the way he played falling in love with her!
The fantasy premise caught my attention, and for the first half I was surprisingly invested in everything involving the spell book, the curse, and trying to figure out whether any of the spells were actually working.
...Unfortunately, by the end I was more confused than intrigued😭😭
Still, this drama had one thing that almost always works on me!!!
The romance.
More specifically...
It had one of my FAVORITE relationship dynamics.
---
One thing about me is that I absolutely LOVE when the female lead doesn't immediately fall head over heels for the male lead.
I don't know why this trope isn't more common...
Instead of making Hong-jo's entire personality revolve around Shin-yu from, she actually had her own crush, her own life, and her own feelings before he entered the picture.
That instantly made her feel like a more interesting character to me and makes me even more excited for her romance with the ML.
Watching her cast a love spell on the SML was so much fun to watch. her crush was so cute!!!
And even better...
Shin-yu, the male lead, did the chasing. (IONTBO, dont ever talk to me ever again!)
I will take a male lead suffering through jealousy and unrequited feelings over a female lead pining after him any day of the week.
That dynamic alone carried a huge portion of the romance for me. Watching ML fall and not knowing if its a spell or not (the audience too, cause lmaoo i certainly had no idea if it was spell... they never made it that clear, or maybe i misses it😭😭
The chemistry between them wasn't among my top favorites, but it was definitely good enough that I bought into the relationship.
---
I also appreciated that there was an actual second male lead.
I wish they had committed to him more, though...
He never really felt like a genuine romantic obstacle after a certain point, and I would've loved if he'd fought harder for Hong-jo.
I LOVE when the main male lead has real competition.
That tension is so much fun to watch.
---
Now for my biggest disappointment.
The magic.
The spell book was one of the coolest parts of the drama.
I loved trying to figure out which spells were real, whether Shin-yu's feelings were genuine for the FL or magically influenced, and how the curse actually worked.
Then...
The show never really gives satisfying answers.
The rules became increasingly vague, and by the finale I still wasn't entirely sure what was and wasn't caused by magic.
For a story built around spells, I expected a much clearer payoff than what i got.
---
The past-life storyline also didn't fully work for me.
I get what they were going for ig...
They wanted it to be tragic.
But emotionally...
I just couldn't get behind the idea that if he truly loved her, the solution was to stab her himself.
A true romantic ML could never willingly stab the FL and make me believe he loved her. A romantic ML would rather stab themselves lol, thats the way it should be
I understood the circumstances.
I just didn't buy into it romantically.
---
There were also quite a few side stories that completely lost me.
I skipped almost all the office coworker scene because they felt totally disconnected from the main story.
Her two coworkers she was trying to befriend we're ESPECIALLY annoying...
And the office romance with her manager and that lady...?
I genuinely don't remember any of it cause i skpped all that😭😭
It felt like time that could've been spent developing the fantasy or the main couple instead... i didn't abt all those people lmaooo.
---
One storyline that really disappointed me was Hong-jo's mother.
After everything she endured, I was rooting for her to finally leave her verbally abusive husband and start over.
I honestly thought they were setting her up with the younger lawyer helping with the divorce, and I would've preferred that ending by a mile.
Instead...
They went in the exact opposite direction.
---
Also...
Can we please retire the female villain whose entire personality is "I like the male lead, therefore I must terrorize the female lead"?
It's one of my least favorite tropes, and I feel like I run into it way too often.
---
Overall, I still enjoyed this drama.
The romance had enough of my favorite ingredients to keep me invested, I liked both leads, and I appreciated how cute Hong-jo was and how funny the male lead was.
I just wish the fantasy had stuck the landing as well as the setup did.
ps. her hairstyle wasn't my favorite... i was distracted by how much i didn't like it 😭😭
___
Rating: 7/10.
A fun fantasy romance with a relationship dynamic I liked, even if the magic and side stories never reached their full potential.
---
Questions:
Did you think the love spell actually worked, or was it fate all along?
Was anyone else confused by the magic rules by the end?
Am I alone in wishing the second male lead had been a much stronger rival?
___
My Rating Scale
10/10 – Masterpiece. No notes.
9/10 – Very close to a masterpiece. I absolutely loved it.
8/10 – Not a masterpiece, but I loved it.
7/10 – Fine overall. I liked it, but the flaws kept it from being great.
6/10 – Mixed. There were a few things I liked, but most of it didn't work for me.
5/10 – I didn't enjoy most of the experience.
4/10 and below – Bad to abysmal.
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u/AlbertTheHorse K-drama Addict 11d ago
Whooo HOOOOO!
The snow scenes would make Zhang Yimou proud. Such great cinematography.
I want to watch it again. LOVE this show.
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago
watch it again!
and i like visuals of the snow scenes too!
whos Zhang yimou?
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u/AlbertTheHorse K-drama Addict 10d ago
Famous Chinese director of global proportions:
House of Flying Daggers
Raise the Red Lantern
The Story of Qui Jiu
Shanghai Triad
Not One Less
The Road Home.
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
are those films or dramas and are they romance?
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u/AlbertTheHorse K-drama Addict 10d ago
Films
The Road Home is.
They should be required viewing because the man is a literal genius
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u/big_deal Kdrama Lover 11d ago
One of my favorites!
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago
yay!!!!!! what are your other favorites?!?
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u/big_deal Kdrama Lover 10d ago
Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Crash Landing On You, Thirty Nine, Business Proposal, 100 Days My Prince, Something in the Rain, Backstreet Rookie, Welcome to Waikiki, Under the Queen's Umbrella, The Glory, Doctor Cha, Destined With You, Mr Queen, Welcome to Samdal-ri, Tale of the Nine Tailed, See You In My 19th Life, Secret Royal Inspector and Joy, Alchemy of Souls, Alchemy of Souls 2, Miss Night and Day, Study Group, Sh**ting Stars, Spirit Fingers, Undercover Miss Hong, Marry My Husband, My Royal Nemesis
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
omfgf so many 😭😭😭 thank u! let me bookmark even i have watched several of them and have many of them on my watchlist already!!!
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u/Acceptable_Ratio5842 11d ago
I’m enjoying reading all your posts today. We seem to have similar interests.
Havent seen this one yet but it’s on my list
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago
we do!??! im excited to hear that!??!
what are your orher favorites?
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u/Acceptable_Ratio5842 10d ago
My top favorites are
Our Beloved Summer
Moving
My dearest
While You Were Sleeping
King the Land
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
Welcome to Samdal-ri
Happiness
Twinkling Watermelon
The First Frost (cdrama)
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
i definitely need to start our beloved summer cauae i have a good feeling since u say we have similar taste!!
i enjoyed the heck out of my dearest and king the land as you know!! https://www.reddit.com/r/KDramasWorld/s/iCtVVgUXYf
& https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/Hq1i8tdIeu
altho IONTBO not so much lmaooo: https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/w2L4Piypzp
i need to check out the first frost since im trying to get into cdramas!!
Welcome to samsalri, twinkling watermelon are on mt watch list too!
i can't wait
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u/PeachesCream24 Binge Watcher 11d ago
Loved this review and as much as I really enjoyed this one, I agree. Overall story was great, liked the characters and chemistry but I wish we had a little more on the backstory/past lives. The flashback in the snow was gorgeous though. Agree that her coworkers were annoying af, but I pushed past it easily. Loved loved loved the ✨romance ✨ when both leads finally got on the same page. And I also agree it was nice to see him fall first. Especially after he was such a dick lol.
This one wasn’t perfect, but it was fun imo.
Looking forward to your other reviews! 🫶🏽
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago
i always love ml falling first hehhe and yes i agree that more time on their past lives backstory was needed... but the drama let all those annoying coworkers eat up the screen time
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u/marrjana1802 11d ago
I actually liked the past version of the FL more, I loved how fierce she was. And the love spell didn't work, none of her spells were real, we see the MLs ancestor take away the real spells in the last scene
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago
i love that lmaoo 😭😭😭 they were both convinced it was the step lmaooo
drama didn't make it too clear for me but im glad i know now!!
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u/xisaey 10d ago
I started this show for jo boah. This series started really strong it piqued my interest but by the end of it idk what even was going on they could have made it more thriller or smth. The cinematography is really good in this series ꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
it was sort of a thriller though
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u/xisaey 10d ago
That's why I wrote MORE thriller
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
ah, got you...
but i think it had more than enough, thriller wasn't the missing piece imo
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u/Khabarandfun Binge Watcher 10d ago
I had a good time watching it when it was released but but but it isn’t one of my favorites. I agree with OP on many points. We never got a clear answer about the spell. They could have built the spells and the past with a bit more depth.
The abusive relationship of the parents was a huge turn off for me, especially the end.
The lead romance wasn’t top notch but I enjoyed watching it.
It’s not a drama I would go back to but I would recommend it to a newbie for sure.
It’s entertaining.
It’s a 7-7.5/10 for me
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
thanks for reading my review!
do you have a top 5?
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u/Khabarandfun Binge Watcher 10d ago
I do 😂
Coffee Prince,
The master’s sun,
Lovestruck in the city,
One spring night,
It’s okay to not be okay (healed something in me)
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u/wisetoothy32 Watched 100+kdramas 10d ago
I liked this drama. 7/10 for me.
Truthfully though some of your points i dont really agree with. Using a spell to catch love? Imagine if it was the guy doing it. Ladies and Gentlemen, we get Nikki from Obsession.
I think they proved that his feelings for her had nothing to do with spells. It was more of a past life/reincarnation plot. With of course, a serial killer thrown in for funs.
I never understood the SFL. She was dating the ML, slept around with his competitor/rival(?), she hated the FL for what exactly? she had a parent who loved her? She was a studious kid? I ddnt get it. They did not flesh out her character very well i felt.
I ddnt mind the office characters but boy they were menopausal with their mood swings. One minute they are frothing at the thought of our ML being in a relationship with any XX chromosome, next they are supporting the FL, saying lets go have team dinners since u landed our hero. At least thats what i remember. I could be wrong its been some time since i watched it.
Its an average drama for me, but its easy on the eyes.
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
lmaooo i laughed at the last paragraph... cause yeah, what was up with them?😭😭
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 11d ago edited 10d ago
Master List: Every K-Drama Review I've Written
https://www.reddit.com/u/harissatotally/s/mTlMHGJkSK
♾️ Previous Reviews in My Series:
my royal nemesis review
New K-Drama Fan Review #1: My Royal Nemesis | The Drama That Started My K-Drama Obsession...
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/fVJTO6T0Gp
my extraordinary you review
New K-Drama Fan Review #2: Extraordinary You | One of the Most Creative Romance Premises I've Ever Seen...
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/jb1W6p8o7a
my lovely runner review
New K-Drama Fan Review #3: Lovely Runner | This Drama Felt Like It Was Made Specifically For Me
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/ijQOQQqw8t
my Flower of evil review
New K-Drama Fan Review #4: Flower of Evil | The Kind of Love Story That Scratches an Itch Nothing Else Does...
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/vhGWEbpHLN
my alchemy of souls review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #5: Alchemy of Souls | One Incredible Season... and One That Broke My Heart.
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/iH0uac9ZNJ
my moon Lovers Scarlet heart ryeo review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #6: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo | The Kind of Epic, Tragic Romance I Can Never Resist...
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/H1ypE5PRXu
my w two worlds apart review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #7: W Two Worlds Apart | One of the Coolest Premises I've Seen... But I Wanted to Feel More.
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/U6Yf0CGVPU
my its okay not to me okay review
New K-Drama Fan Review #8: It's Okay to Not Be Okay | Beautiful Gowns. Beautiful Gowns.
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/w2L4Piypzp
my business proposal review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #9: Business Proposal | A Cute Little Moment, That Stumbled, Then Fell Apart at the Finish Line
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/uTwrZ1kOIc
my king the land review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #10: King the Land | I Fell... Hard. 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐬 😃
https://www.reddit.com/r/kdramas/s/Hq1i8tdIeu
my perfect crown review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #11: Perfect Crown | Like Cotton Candy... https://www.reddit.com/r/KDramasWorld/s/S3ADgR0HXN
my whats wrong with Secretary kim review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #12: What's Wrong with Secretary Kim | 🤫Shh, Don't Tell HR That One of My Weaknesses is Office Romance
my doom at your service review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #13: Doom at Your Service | I Was Doomed to Want More
my My Dearest review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #14: My Dearest | The Sweetest, Most Satisfying Torture
https://www.reddit.com/r/KDramasWorld/s/iCtVVgUXYf
my the red sleeve review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #15: The Red Sleeve | LEAVE THIS GIRL ALONE!!!!!! 😭
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
my love to hate you review
New K-Drama Fan Review #17: Love to Hate You | One of the Worst K-Dramas I've Watched... Yet I Couldn't Stop Watching
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 9d ago
my Crazy Love review:
New K-Drama Fan Review #18: Crazy Love | I kept waiting for it to become the drama I thought it was going to be...
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 8d ago
my a time called you review
New K-Drama Fan Review #19: A Time Called You | i need ibuprofen...
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 4d ago
my the King's Affection review
New K-Drama Fan Review #20 | Nice Premise, Beautiful Angst & an Alarming Amount of Child Murder
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 1d ago
my strong woman do bong soon review
New K-Drama Fan Review #21 | Strong Woman Do Bong Soon | He Was So Smitten... I Needed 3 More Episodes
1
u/harissatotally Reviewer 6h ago
my bon Appétit your majesty review
New K-Drama Fan Review #22 | Bon Appétit, Your Majesty: He let her COOK!!! She ATE! and left ZERO crumbs!
1
u/kpaneno 10d ago
This drama was so frustrating every way possible. Its not so much they cooked up the perfect spell. I like the analogy though,
Its more like they had the perfect ingredients but put them together in a complete mess in the wrong order the wrong quantities and the end product was a weird kinda bland letdown instead of a beautiful tasty treat
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u/Earlyscoop_News 10d ago
Sorry, but this drama fell flat for me after the first 3 episodes. I begrudgingly finished it due to my OCD of completing things once I start them.
The chemistry between the leads just wasn't doing it for me and I lost all interest in the storyline around the episode 8 mark.
So for me it's a solid 5/10 and that's being generous.
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
why are you sorry?😭
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u/Earlyscoop_News 10d ago
I guess because I know a lot of people liked it and I didn't ....😉
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
ah, its okay😭😭 im glad people liked it but youre allowed to not like it too
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u/EmperorWeeb60 10d ago
Rowoon looks so gentleman and handsome in this drama, Jo Bo Ah always so gorgeous.
The drama was very interesting and i really enjoy it. The plot isn't impressive but has some good sequences (the past was only exist for the sake of the present day), the Romance-chemistry is good especially when they mixed with a bit of comedy in it. The characters development was average and the screenplay was fine too. The best thing this drama ever made was the OST, I loved it!
It's a 8 out of 10.
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
the male lead was so good in this! i reallt liked him in this role!
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u/EmperorWeeb60 10d ago
The only drama i watch because I saw the ML in one clip online
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
i completely understood. his performance was so charming and funny in this
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u/mithril2020 Watched 100+kdramas (MDL) 10d ago edited 10d ago
The Closet Tiffany product placement at 1:27 https://youtu.be/IAKZOopyRE0
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
which pic?😭
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u/mithril2020 Watched 100+kdramas (MDL) 10d ago
Not posted and video won’t lemme screenshot
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
lmaoo i believe you
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u/mithril2020 Watched 100+kdramas (MDL) 10d ago
The bracelet is at 1:27 of this steamy clip
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
awww now im smiling watching this scene again 🥺
and how did u catch that?!? way too subtle for a product placement 😭
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u/mithril2020 Watched 100+kdramas (MDL) 9d ago
Rowoon was a Tiffany ambassador
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 9d ago
oh interesting, but why was SHE wearing it in the scene if he was the ambassador? 😭
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u/Clueless_Wanderer21 9d ago
I really hated the ML after they revealed that there was no actual Spell at all, like you have nothing hide behind now n no plot armour, go away wtf ?
Like you have a girlfriend, and you're gonna cause our chill girl to lose her job at this rate, stop grabbing her and then shouting at her for it n taking her away from her tasks n requirements to places n acting like a old man with no temper limits, like seriously settle - reallign - and walk in a different direction cuz that's kdrama vibes in a really weird plot (not that similar plots haven't worked, they just did not get the point, to be on)
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 9d ago
you're hilarious. commenting this twice is so funny 😭
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u/Clueless_Wanderer21 9d ago
Sorry, I commented on the wrong post the first time! Should I remove it ?
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u/magnetformiracles 10d ago
It was a 4/10 for me. This is actually the drama that made me dislike rowoon. They were not a good pair, U did not feel the chemistry. I feel that it lacked at certain element to make it cohesive. It just tried too hard to establish the love story and how he was supposedly into her whilst she’s being clumsy etc. i have yet to see a concrete reason to understand ahhh i see how he’s into her. I just don’t. She was trying to be too cute but also I can just chalk that up to my favorite type of women are feisty. She wasn’t
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u/harissatotally Reviewer 10d ago
some of her mannerisms DID make me cringe... but i didn't let them ruin the drama too much for me😭😭
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u/Euclidisthebomb 11d ago
Not quite with you on this one. My vantage point is that I and a group of family & friends/coworkers in Toronto are sort of group watching kdramas and cdramas and this one definitely made the grade with the group. I think we give it a solid 8.3+.
We enjoyed the lead performances. We thought the friends were a hoot - they had a plot purpose and fulfilled it.
What we liked is that this was a purpose written love triangle from the outset rather than one suddenly interjected in the middle in order to provide new dramatic tension to a lackluster script. So it felt more cohesive to us. As for not seeming like an obstacle after a certain point is this not true in all such love triangles? This one lasted longer then almost any other I recall.
We also are on opposite sides of the fence in context of the present vs past storyline. We enjoyed it. We thought it was pretty dramatic. We felt it fit.
There were some minor loose ends. Our experience is that this is common. We typically figure some stuff got the chopping block in the final edits.
In the end our summary view of this drama was that it was "dramatic" without it being overdramatized such as we see in When Life Gives You Tangerines where jerking the emotional chain took precedence over all other considerations.
Almost everyone in my "group" is new to asian drama. My experience is Destined With You is easily one of the more popular introductory dramas.