First of all, I don't think this was cast right. Shin Hye Sun and Ahn Bo Hyun had some type of chemistry, but to me they read more BFFs than anything else. I never felt any type of romantic spark between them (and given that this aired at the same time as King the Land, where the leads have heaps and heaps of very intense chemistry, it was made all the more glaring). And the second leads had a similar issue, I rooted for them throughout the show, and then that awfully awkward kiss happened in the last episode, and all my happy feelings at them finally getting together instantaneously fizzled away.
Second, I'm not familiar with the webtoon this was based off of, and while I think the premise was super interesting and had endless potential to become an amazing story, I think the show's execution was very badly done. They took too much time in the beginning to set things up, rushed the middle—absolutely wrecking the main couple's relationship development—and crowned the whole mess with a super boring, bland, low-stakes, full-of-flashbacks last episode that I ended skipping my way through.
Third, I found the forward personality of Ban Ji Eun very off-putting. I enjoy confident and brash FLs, but she was so relentless and gave me this vibe as if she was entitled to have her feelings reciprocated, and it rubbed me the wrong way.
Fourth, I hated all of Seo Ha's wide, loose-legged pants.
Overall, this show was a huge let down. But I do take away two good things: Star by Colde is a lovely song and, admittedly, the drama's cinematography was beautiful.
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@abtr I didn't even notice the pants until reading your comment, but I have to agree. :sweat_smile:
Review by chillikun
Realistic, Imaginative yet frustrating and heartbreaking !!
Yumi’s Cell is the first Korean drama to blend in animation into the drama in such a intrinsic way. You can seen that there is a lot of work behind it and these little animated figures do a lot for the story and make it stand out from other dramas. The story really come to life because of them; which otherwise would have another boring couples story ....
Yumi's Cells has perfect beginning but midway i noticed the spoilers and realized the endgame which made me loose interest in the show. After investing in a couple its sad to see the writers use miscommunication again as plot for breakup .
I also don't like Ji Young ( he spoiled Devil Judge for me) and his character in this show is all flirty with another woman as he is lonely with his reporter girlfriend and i was not sad at all with his breakup .. Also I know he is not the end game for Yumi but I can't gather courage and interest to watch S2 with him in .
I hate how they suddenly muted Wung's communication algorithm and its a lesson for all men to learn to communicate . I also hate how Yumi also blindsided him with breakup card . I understand she is hurt but she is at fault for cutting him off and not communicating
I Like how realistic the show is but for some reason I am sad at the ending .. I would have even digested if Yumi -Wung fell out of love. The fact that Yumi became Wungs #1 right before the breakup hurts even more.
But I like message the show delivers at the end to Yumi
You are the only lead in your life
I found Yumi’s Cell to be quite sweet, warm and funny drama to watch. It is missing a key element that I like in kdramas, which is that the story hasn’t ended yet because we are only at the end of season one. I personally really enjoy kdramas because we get a beginning, middle and a end in about 16 episode. It’s one of their charms. There is so many shows that drag the plot and the tension until most of everything you enjoyed about the series is no longer there. Yumi's cell fall into bigger Hollywood trap of multi-season story and loose the charm . So message is don't watch until S3 is released , only and only then you might be able to bear the torture called Yumi's cell. There is a high possiblity i will not be watching Season 2 when released and only watch on S3.
P.S : Unpopular opinion but this year I am hating all top shows IOTNO , HomeTown Cha Cha ... Stangely I like Love Alarm as I watched it after both seasons are released and not fixated on a particular couple pairing.
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@chillikun I love how you said that one of k-drama charms is their 16 episode format, with predefined beginning, middle and ending. I feel the same! It's true that so many (US) shows 'drag the plot and the tension until most of everything you enjoyed about the series is no longer there' - so I lost interest in them. I hope that Korean shows won't be ruined now that they are becoming more and more popular in the US (and worldwide).
Just a tip to whoever may read this: if Song Kang's character is Serbian like he says in the drama (or from Montenegro, whatever) his name should be spelled as "Luka", not "Ruka". :D Btw, "ruka" in Serbian means "hand".
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@sugarpill Apparently. :D Not entirely sure if his character is strictly Serbian or some Balkans mix, but I found out about it somewhere online. Funny that at the time I made this Luka vs. Ruka comment I didn't even know who Song Kang was, and now he's one of my faves. :heart_eyes::cupid:
p.s. Sorry, I missed your comment before, so my reply is terribly overdue.
This is a bad one. I only manage to watch snippets from this film.
Hopefully the K-series is better, but i highly doubtful.loading replies
@talifreya The K-series (2021) is much better. Not perfect, but leagues above this one.
