Early Access: True To Love E1, E2 (Patreon)

E1. As soon as Show dropped its first teaser, I was really, really hoping to like this one.

Mainly, it's because I have a big soft spot for Yoo In Na, and I'm excited to see her come back to our screens, in a rom-com. Yay! 🥳

It's still fairly early days yet, since we're just 2 episodes in so far, but having watched both episodes, I'm happy to report that I like it, so far.

I do have some reservations, though, which I figure I should confess upfront.

While I am all in for Yoo In Na as our female lead, I confess that I haven't yet love Yoon Hyun Min in a leading man sort of role.

Not that I've seen him in many, but I was rather underwhelmed by his leading man turn in My Holo Love, where he played the romantic male lead.

I don't know what it is; I find that I have difficulty connecting with Yoon Hyun Min as an actor on my screen.

Like, his character Soo Hyuk is supposed to be brusque to start with, leaving room for (what I assume will be) a growth journey, during which we get to see softer, more endearing sides of him.

The thing is, his character in My Holo Love was roughly in the same space; brusque to start with, and then softening up later in the story, and I.. never warmed up to him. Oops. 😅

I'd found his brand of brusqueness too abrasive, with not enough in the way of glimpses of soft edges, to balance it out.

Instead of a prickly male lead with a marshmallow center, he was just.. a prickly male lead, to me.

I'm sure there were efforts to introduce softer edges to his character, but they were just never enough, for me. To my eyes, his character remained more or less in that brusque space, and I feel like a lot of that had to do with Yoon Hyun Min's delivery.

There's just something.. tough and hard that registers in my eyes, when I watch Yoon Hyun Min on my screen, and so, despite his efforts to soften up his character towards the end, I never felt convinced of it.

And.. I'm kinda worried that the same thing might happen here, in this show.

Because, so far, Soo Hyuk is roughly about as brusque of a character as the male lead character in My Holo Love, and that's giving me lashings of a bit of déjà vu - not the good kind. 😅

It's way too early to make a judgment on this, of course, and I'm very much crossing my fingers and hoping that I have a different, more positive experience, this time, of watching Yoon Hyun Min as a prickly romantic male lead. 🤞🏻

On the upside, I am loving Yoo In Na in this, unreservedly. 😍😍

She's just ridiculously charming, even when her character Bo Ra is being vain, or nosy, or acting like a know-it-all.

(I don't expect any male lead to match her level of charm, but this is kinda-sorta what I'm looking for, from Yoon Hyun Min; the ability to be charming, in spite of his character's shortcomings.)

In principle, I like the idea of both our leads having room to grow.

She's a little (or a lot) too pretentious in terms of what she looks for as markers of living a successful, happy life, while he's too emotionally closed off, such that he turns out to be the awful quasi-boyfriend in the radio show story, who's never officially said or done anything to give the girl he's dating a sense of security.

I'm hopeful that Show will manage to tease out a meaningful story between these two, while keeping things cute and charming.

ALSO. Importantly, there doesn't seem to be any serial killer on the loose, so it seems to be all clear, on that front.

I don't know why it's so hard to find a rom-com without a side of murder, but this show appears to be that, and I'm clinging onto the hope that no side of murder raises its unwelcome head, during our story.

I find that I'm also liking our supporting characters very well, so far.

Joo Sang Wook is just really good in this kind of affable, dorky sort of space. I would love for him to headline another drama, playing a similar kind of dork, like he did in Cunning Single Lady.

But for now, it's pretty great to see him be the well-meaning but rather clumsy-dorky CEO of the publishing house.

Additionally, I am very amused at seeing Chansung play Bo Ra's chaebol boyfriend who's dragging his feet in terms of a marriage proposal.

I am fairly sure that if I didn't already have affection for Chansung as one of the 2PM boys, I might find Ju Wan more overtly a jerk?

But with my affection for him at play, and with the way he's obviously hamming it up, whether in scenes when he's being overbearing, or in Bo Ra's happy flights of fancy, of them living the happiest life together, I can't help but be tickled through pretty much all of it. 😁

I'm also enjoying Park So Jin as Bo Ra's bestie Yu Jung; she's giving off a friendly-nosy sort of energy that's working really well, for the role.

Also, even though it looks to be a small role, I find myself really taking to Yu Ri, the girl who breaks up with Soo Hyuk, at the end of the episode.

There's something very lovely about the way she carries herself, as she goes to see Soo Hyuk, to tell him that they shouldn't see each other anymore.

She's sweet and thoughtful, and gentle and vulnerable, and brave and honest, all at the same time, and I find myself feeling quite drawn to her.

She's so lovely in this moment, that I find myself thinking less of Soo Hyuk, for not even trying to change her mind about breaking up with him.

I mean, if he's gone so far as to buy a ring for her, that means that he does like her, yes? And so, when she says all these things about wanting to be with someone who actually likes her, I find myself shaking my head at Soo Hyuk, for not even attempting to tell her that, in actual fact, he really does like her.

Of course, at this moment, I don't even really like Soo Hyuk very much, and so, since I do like Yu Ri, I'm actually on board with her breaking up with him, coz I feel that she deserves so much better. 😅

And yes, there's also the thing, where Soo Hyuk's our male lead, and so isn't meant to be with Yu Ri anyway - let's see how Show's going to convince me on that front, because I'm definitely not yet at a point where I'm rooting for our prescribed OTP. 🙃

E2. We are still in set-up, this episode, but it does feel like we're almost done, because by the time we end this episode, Bo Ra's coming upon the scene that we've seen already, in the trailers, where Ju Wan's making out with someone else, in his car.

We spend the bulk of the episode with lots of Soo Hyuk smarting from his breakup with Yu Ri, and blaming Bo Ra for it, since it's Bo Ra would pronounced the relationship a dead-end, on air.

We also get lots of Bo Ra angling for the proposal that she's been waiting for, from Ju Wan, and it's this long-running gag of her misinterpreting his words and actions to be all romantically angled, when he's just being a boring boyfriend who only cares about practical things like actually closing the trunk of his car, and who only wants to talk about his accomplishments at work.

Again, I am suitably tickled, because both Yoo In Na and Chansung look like they're having the time of their lives hamming it up for the camera, in all of Bo Ra's imagined flights of fancy. 😁

I find the bickering between Soo Hyuk and Bo Ra a leettle too strong for my taste, and I think I've had an Aha moment of sorts, in terms of trying to explain why Yoon Hyun Min's delivery didn't work for me in My Holo Love, and why it might potentially not work for me, in this show.

You know how some people play a joke on you, or rib you, and you can tell that it's all in good fun, because there's a soft edge to how it's delivered? Like, if they knocked you on the head, it wouldn't be a truly hard knock, because it's meant to be a joke?

Well, if you translate that into actors and acting, then with Yoo In Na and her way of delivering Bo Ra's shortcomings, it's like someone knocked you on the head, but lightly, because it's all in good fun, and we don't want anyone to get hurt.

And then with Yoon Hyun Min playing Soo Hyuk in all his prickly glory, it's like someone knocked you on the head, but hard, because he didn't realize this was supposed to be in good fun.

I don't know if you feel the same way, but that's essentially how I'm receiving Yoon Hyun Min on my screen - so far, anyway. Fingers crossed that things don't pan out the same way with this show as they did in My Holo Love, and I end up really enjoying him in this one. 😅

Right now, I find Soo Hyuk rather too abrasive, like when he's disdaining Bo Ra to Sang Jin, and saying all those negative things about her, and refusing to work with her.

Thankfully, Bo Ra is pretty tolerant, in response, and even when she's upset, she doesn't come across as truly abrasive, so that helps to balance out the overly prickly vibes I'm getting from Soo Hyuk.

The relationship that I find myself surprisingly most interested in, this episode, is the relationship between Bo Ra and her younger sister, Bo Mi.

The vibe between them is so much like real siblings. When they are upset with each other, there's lots of yelling, stamping, threatening and slamming of feet &/or doors, but they are also quick to calm down and show care for each other, too.

I love the scene where Bo Ra gets all upset with Bo Mi for wearing and ruining her dress, because once Bo Mi understands that all Bo Ra wants is to look extra nice for an important day, Bo Mi knows exactly which dress will complement Bo Ra's skin tone the best, and becomes Bo Ra's instant fashion consultant.

It's very endearing.

The whole love-hate thing is so relatable, between siblings, and I really like how it pops in a way that makes me believe that these two are real sisters, who've lived their lives being annoyed with each other, and yet, can't help but care for each other. 😁

And then, how about when Bo Mi comes home from the club, wayyy past her curfew, and Bo Ra gets suitably upset - but immediately drops the disciplinarian persona, when Bo Mi cries that her feet hurt, and asks to see Bo Mi's feet, so that she can help her. Aww.

I also find myself really taking to Bo Mi.

She comes across as a believable bratty younger sister who revels in annoying her unni, but at the same time, she does seem to have a pretty good head on her shoulders, in the way she refuses to play along with Sang Hyeok, who's clearly the cool kid in their midst, and who obviously has his sights set on Bo Mi.

Because I find myself taking so well to Bo Mi, I'm suddenly quite interested in the potential loveline that Show seems to be suggesting, between her and soldier dude Jin Ho.

As we close out the episode, I really feel for Bo Ra, because she looks so, so happy, to be on her way to see Ju Wan, now that she's decided that she doesn't need to wait for him to propose; she can be the first to bring it up, and it's all good.

Aw. How adorable is she?? 😍😍

But of course, it's not meant to be, since, instead of her envisioned scenes of happy proposals, she comes upon Ju Wan making out with someone else, in his car. Eep. Poor Bo Ra.

I'm intrigued that Show's got it such that Soo Hyuk's there to witness Bo Ra finding Ju Wan cheating on her.

I'm quite curious to see where Show's going to go with this; like, will this make him feel sorry for her, perhaps, and thus cause him to soften up a bit? Or, will he be a prick and lord it over her, because he knows her secret?

Right now, I feel like it could go either way.

I'm looking forward to our next episodes, quite enthusiastically, and I'd call that a pretty great start.

Next episode notes will be out on: Monday, 24 April 2023!

**This show will be covered on the Early Access (US$5) Tier**