“Now We Are Breaking Up” Episode 1 And 2 Review- Between Cliches And Interesting Topics, A Promising Start

“Now We Are Breaking Up” could be easily labeled one of the most anticipated kdramas of the second half of 2021 and for good reasons. It includes a star-studded cast and a production that’s been teased for a while now, anticipation was high, expectations were high, but did it deliver? I honestly don’t know the answer for that, but I’ll tell you this, I enjoyed the premiere.

Note: this will be a spoiler review of the said episodes in the title. This is a subjective review.

My reasons for watching were Ki Yong and Kim Joo Hun, I love love both actors and am so happy Kim Joo Hun is getting more attention, the dude is amazing. This is why I checked out the drama.

While Song Hye Kyo is a very very famous Korean actress, I was never that drawn to her, she’s good but definitely not one of the actresses who come to my mind when I think of great actresses with range. This doesn’t mean she sucks, but she’s usually done the same role for a while now and that’s not fun to watch.

I have seen very mixed responses online more than I honestly thought I would, usually, you’d see discourse about any hallyu actor premiere but the critical opinions are a bit more prominent in this one. I was surprised by that because I actually liked the premiere.

Granted, I had zero expectations, and I mean, zero. I walked in with no expectations and ended up being pleasantly surprised by how fun it mostly was.

I find the fashion industry interesting so this is a part of the reason, to see how much work goes on behind the scenes to get a project out there is quite fun. I liked those parts.

First, I’d like to discuss my thoughts on the premiere, the things I liked before jumping into what people had to say and my comments on that.

“Now We Are Breaking Up” could become an amazing experience, it has the basics for that and its backed by a well-rounded cast of famous and good actors so if it’s done right, I think the drama can easily break the 15% rating mark.

I like the setting as I’ve said before, and I also like that Song Hye Kyo’s character turned out to be a bit more grounded than what I originally thought. I think she has good chemistry with Ki Yong, which is way better than her chemistry with her last co-star Bo Gum.

I enjoyed Kim Joo Hun’s performance a lot, I’ve had my eyes on him for quite some time and I am so happy he’s in such a big project. I hope he gains many fans through this.

“Now We Are Breaking Up” premiere was typical in the sense that its the standard premiere, but I know that I had zero expectations so when adjusting to that, I found it lots of fun. Now, if you had immensely high expectations, you could have walked out disappointed.

Now onto what some are saying [not everyone, chill].

So the biggest criticism I’ve been hearing was how its very cringy, the lines are cringy and the voiceover by Hye Kyo’s character was also a topic of discussion.

I totally understand that angle, and to an extent, I agree with it. However, with a genre like that, such lines are to be expected. Some were very cringy but I’d say they were tolerable unless you were expecting something out of this world.

Some people were complaining about the direction of the drama and how the first episode [which was rated 19+] gave out almost everything so what remains is the push and pull which will become tedious and too predictable. I see that point but I agree with only half of it. The course of the two characters relationship could become a very interesting thing to see. I don’t mind 19+, we’re adults here. I was surprised Hye Kyo agreed to this to be frank which I found to be amusing. In regards to how this could become very typical, there is a good chance this will happen but we can’t be too sure yet.

“Now We Are Breaking Up” has 16 episodes and I am pretty sure we’ll have at least 5 filler episodes that take us nowhere, that’s usually the standard for kdramas. There is a lot of room for good things to come out but you can also see glimpses of what could become a potential stagnation and a disappointing experience.

Some people are also talking about how this Ki Yong role is very similar to his other role in Search:WWW which is understandable, some scenes do remind me of that but that doesn’t really deter me, it would become problematic if we’re continuously drawing comparisons as the drama goes on.

Now onto my worries.

The drama already has some very cliché things I don’t like. Episode 1 was fun and so was episode 2, but the fact that they’ve already brought up some of their biggest guns this early is… concerning. The fact that the two brothers fall for the same sister type of trope is too outdated and too boring. You know where it’ll go and how it’ll likely end.

The romance story itself isn’t that appealing to me as a result. Young Eun says she can’t date him due to the many complications this will create but we already know this won’t be the case, I can already see how some of the plot will develop and I’ve seen such plots too many times to count so I am not particularly excited about that. Though, I hope the screenwriter blows me away.

The drama is also taking a similar direction to other stories about a hardworking beautiful competent woman and a very rich carefree male lead who has past trauma or issues, its been said and done, every possible take on that has been done at least 1000 times which makes me curious as to why this project was picked to be made. The fact that the male lead helps out and eavesdrop on the female lead has been done too many times for me to count, his reaction is also very expected and I didn’t particularly like how he’s the one who somehow saves her multiple times despite her talent. It would be nice for the screenwriter to at least subvert our expectations with such overused tropes.

For a premiere, I’d say “Now We Are Breaking Up” was good but I know my judgment is skewed because of what I said previously. I can understand why people would find it cringy and I really can’t completely disregard that but there is a charm to this drama that appears especially in the second episode.

There is potential but there is also plenty of room for a disappointing viewing experience, only time will tell.

So what about you guys? what are your thoughts on the premiere?