In Need of Romance 3

Hubster went to bed super early and I'd finished Romance is a Bonus Book, so I thought I'd try and find something new that was more romantic than not and without any of the crime-ish type stuff that's in You're All Surrounded (still making my way slowly through that). I found a random blog site that had a bunch of dramas rated therein and picked out an "A+" one that was already on my list -- In Need of Romance 3 (the reviewer said it was the best out of the In Need of Romance dramas).

I watched the first episode last night. The blurb was basically that an older woman (Shin Joo-Yeon played by Kim So-Yeon) who used to babysit this guy (she was 7 when he was born) has turned into a cynical person who no longer believes in love due to the relationship experiences she's had. The younger dude (Joo Wan played by Sung Joon) has returned to South Korea after years away in the US and is looking forward to connecting with her again (likely a "my first love" thing). She called him sweet potato when he was a baby. I don't think they've seen each other since the younger dude was probably 8? 10? Anyway, supposed to be the classic (I imagine) I'll teach you to love again thing.

Which sounds reasonable, yeah? The kind of thing I'm looking for?

Well. I don't want to rehash all of it as I am so often wont to do. I'll just cover what I do like and what I don't.

Do Like...a) Sung Joon (Sung Jun?) as Joo Wan (or Allan something because he uses an English name). I like his character. I like his voice. He's got a great voice. No, I mean, really. I may wind up watching this whole thing purely because of this guy. Listening to him reminds me of playing Mystic Messenger.

And...dammit. I was going to put a b) but I really don't have one. If I stretch, I guess I could say b) would be that it's a noona romance?

Don't Like...a) the leading lady is just...such an asshole. She's abrasive. And I realise she's supposed to be to give her a character arc to travel...but, honestly, she's kinda so bad in the first episode that I really, really didn't like her. Like, the only redemption at all is in the flashbacks to when she was the babysitter. There you can see why the guy liked her and has fond memories of her. But the current her is just...ugh. And, yeah, she had some crappy relationships but that doesn't mean she has to be a total bitch all the way around (including to Sweet Potato).

b) The girl from Panda and Hedgehog is also in it as a kinda self-absorbed sort-of nympho and so far, her acting doesn't seem any better in this than it was when she was Panda. So that made me cringe. Actually, all of the supporting female characters all feel really shallow and gossipy and exactly the kind of women I won't be friends with.

c) Namgung Min is also in this as the bitchy lead's boss. And...well...I kinda liked him in Beautiful Gong Shim but he also kinda annoyed me by the end of that one. His goofy smile was a draw at first, but then it because a little too goofy. Does that make sense? So my first reaction when I saw him appear in this was Oh! Then Eh... I don't actually know whether to list this as a do or don't like. Maybe it's more of a I'm not ready to watch you again yet thing. That might be more about my feelings about the plot in the last half of Beautiful Gong Shim.

d) Based on what I've seen of the plot so far, it looks like it's going to be a lot of bitchy people being bitchy to each other, other than Sung Jun's character (and maybe Namgung Min's too). They are the only ones that seems like decent people so far.

So...for now this is going on the Currently Watching list but I honestly don't know if I'll finish it. Maybe I'll just watch Sung Jun in one of his other dramas.