> ExtraOrdinary Beginning and an very very ordinary climax

This is has to be one of the biggest disappointments and one of the few K-Drama can cause two 2nd Lead Syndrome. In the beginning I was cheering for the extras but in the end as the plot grows you will feel sad for the A3 more .

STORY
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I was intrigued with synopsis. MC in a comic book trying to fight against her fate? Sign me up!

Initially.....


Dan Oh who is headstrong and determined to change her fight as a sick girl who has a crush on Baek Kyung, Baek Kyung who treats Dan Oh like trash, Haru who tries to help Dan Oh change her fate, Joo Da who is your typical helpless female lead in the comic, Nam Joo who is your typical rich male lead in the comic, and Do Hwa who is your typical sweet second-male lead.

However, towards the middle of the story .......

Dan Oh's goal switches and she turns into the cliche girl whose life now centers around romance and being with Haru. Scenes become repetitive as characters [spoiler]lose their memories[/spoiler], scenes successfully manage to be changed only with slight tweaks, and Dan Oh continuously suffers from her sickness without being able to do anything about it. You start to see the background of A3 and start actually pitying them [spoiler] as some of them grow their ego and even the ones who didn't [/spoiler]

The last four episodes ..... :mewh: garbage
[spoiler]
What's progressed between Dan Oh and achieving her sickness goal? NOTHING!. Dan Oh's life is in the romance department becomes cheesy both in Stage and Shadow and she become the much alike the female protagonist always crying and loose her headstrong character. The everything is rushed and we are not explained anything ? who is the writer ? what is shadow and stage ? how is it affecting the real manhwa ?
[/spoiler]

CHARACTERS
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I hated Beak Kyung's character in the stage at the beginning but [spoiler]as the drama unfolds i feel sadder and lonelier as he is and [/spoiler] I kinda skipped through all scenes of Dan-oh and Har-ru ; they were getting too cheesy in the shadow as much as Joo-da and Nam-joo in the stage :punch:. To me Lee Jae-wook outperformed the complete cast both in the stage and shadow. Whaaat a 180 reversal of my emotions.

Do Hwa was another character I was really fond of but once again they didn't explore him much and has been relegated as a comic relief.

[spoiler] Self-aware Juda was badass but her decision was quite questionable. While I felt sorry for Nam Joo (and that's probably why she chose him in the end), Do Hwa was a better fit. But we have to remind ourselves that Nam Joo never gained his awareness and that's a bit unfair to solely judge him based on how he's written.[/spoiler] I wasn't even annoyed by Nam Joo's character, his characterization was so one dimensional that it made me laugh in the end (he was such a cliche male lead)

Sae Mi was the bully ? She did bully Juda in the shadows ? She was a lovely friend to Dan Oh but a bitch to Juda (pardon my french). So i always thought it was two different characters lol . [spoiler]I wish she has regained her ego she would have been the kind the girl and not the bully the writer wrote. [/spoiler]

I will not be speaking about Dan-oh and Haru as I have said enough how these two characters have regressed and disappointing.

VERDICT
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Despite the unique concept and world building that always pull me in ; the poor execution of this world's writer and PD ; it turns into your typical romance story with a high school girl infatuated with a guy [spoiler] and prioritizing him over her own life. Both protagonists (shadow and stage) choose the male that they pity or can use money and ability to change stage[/spoiler].

They focused too much on the pointless love triangle that they lost sight of the main themes (and the most interesting stuff : free will, changing your fate ) thus stopping the never-ending cycle (I would have love for everyone to work together against the writer) resulting in underdeveloped characters, plot holes, no explanations whatsoever of crucial points and rushed ending.

I would rate episodes 1-12 as 9/10 and next 4 episodes as unwatchable ( a 5/10). I only finished the show with the sheer will hoping [spoiler] atleast Dow-Ha would get a happy ending but only Dried-Squid got the happy ending i wished.[/spoiler]

I would not recommend the show if you are someone who wants a cleaner exits instead duped into diving into an exciting world. Although you might like it you are ok with shallow romance infecting the shadow from the stage.