So I Married an Anti-Fan (2021)

_"So I married my Anti-fan"_ was a light and fluffy show that was enjoyable to watch, though nothing new or too unique. If you need a feel-good, "enemy to lovers" or "rich guy, poor girl" type show, then you found it. It did have some issues that took away from it being a 10 for me.

Geun-young's character was great. She had great male and female friendships. Go Soo-hwan had no romance with either of his friends, which I also really liked. They communicated well and were there for each other but also had clear boundaries, which was nice to see. Her relationship with her parents was loving and supportive. Geun-young's parents did not push her towards a relationship with Who Joon, setting this kdrama apart from the previous show. Instead, her parents punished Who Joon for treating their daughter so horribly. In many Kdramas and Cdramas, you see the parents forgiving the guy way too easily when they find out that the guy is rich and handsome. But these two stuck up for their daughter. The story could have been better had they included more interaction with the friends and parents. At times, Geun-young was portrayed as dumb when she was technically a journalist and should be very sharp. (One scene that comes to mind is when she is drawing a triangle between JJ, In-hyung, and Who Joon but can't conclude that they are in a love triangle or when she gets lost in Japan and her inability to come up with an adequate solution).

In contrast, Who Joon's relationships were a bit more predatory. Most of the people around him were making money off of him or were people that had betrayed him in some form. Who Joon was raised by a single mom who seemed to never be there for him. So this set up a good way for you to forgive him for anything he does that is awful. But he genuinely was a nice person except when it came to Guen-young. Though he does become nicer to her, he doesn't do enough to redeem himself. Geun-young suffers horrible treatment at the hands of his fans with no protection from Who Joon. Who Joon doesn't protect her when she gets into situations partially caused by him and the production team. When they are finally are in a relationship, he gets better about it. But I feel if you portray him as a good guy, he needs to be a good guy regardless of whether they are in a relationship or not.

The supporting cast brought talent and fun to all the characters in the show. Sung Hoon, as JJ's crazy older brother, performed his role perfectly. However, Mi-jung, Soo-hwan, and Ji-hyang brought on the charm as dependable friends. Mi-jung was straightforward and would put things into perspective for Guen-young and was perceptive compared to everyone around her. Though she had her brand of crazy, she bought to the group normal and logical thinking. Soo-hwan was a great friend and would come in and help whenever needed. He also stood up for her at work or on the field when talking to other journalists. Mi-jung and Soo-hwan were underutilized on this show and would be more interesting characters than In-hyung and JJ. As for Ji-hyang, he was the best in every way. Though he also made money off of Who Joon, he genuinely cared about his well-being and happiness. And the random clips we saw of him laughing at Who Joon and Guen-young added to his charm and solidified that he saw Who Joon as a younger brother. There is also the whole trip to Japan, where he tries to keep In-hyung away from Who Joon and tries to resolve the misunderstandings with Guen-young.

The worst part about this show was the relationship between In-hyung and JJ. The Webtoon did a better job of making In-hyung likable and JJ the villain. Had these two been likable, giving them a redemption arc would be okay, but this was not the case. Both of these two were manipulative and abusive towards each other and everyone around them. They constantly put their dreams and goals in front of any relationship that they had with anyone. In-hyung's obsession with fame and JJ's obsession with Who Joon made them mentally unhealthy. To have these two end up together and not in therapy does not make sense. They somehow mended all their friendships without doing any work to gain forgiveness or even offering an apology. They did not do anything to redeem themselves or to make amends for their poor behavior. The ending did not make sense because of this and was undeserved.

Again, it was a good show, and I enjoyed watching it. I think the main couple had good chemistry with one another, and the supporting cast was really good, even if the second leads were super annoying.

Within less than 3 minutes going into the first episode we were presented with these goofy and silly sound effects for every motion and laughter. My expectations were nullified immediately which definitely helped to endure it. The interactions between the characters were painfully artificial and static, which made the dreadful cheesiness even worse than it already was. This is how it seems from the surface but the content is much more revolting and ugly. Highly not recommended!