Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Bad Girl – | Review Score – 4/5
Bad Boy – | Review Score – 4/5
Nice Guys Get a Pass Bad Boys Have It Coming – | Review Score – 4.5/5
You Are Not What I Expected – | Review Score – 4.5/5
Love is Just an Experiment, Life is the Real Thing – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Femme Fatale vs Homme Fatale – | Review Score – 4/5
Trigonometry: The Love Triangle Edition – | Review Score – 4.5/5
The Way You Change Me – | Review Score – 5/5
You Made Me Who I Am – | Review Score – 5/5
A Passionate Goodbye – | Review Score – 4/5
Often times there comes a K-drama that is so interesting that one cannot wait to watch through to the end of it. Netflix’s newest release, Love To Hate You, is one such binge-worthy drama.
The show follows the story of an actor named Nam Kang-ho who hates women and cannot stand the sight of them.
He meets a wacky lawyer named Lee Mi-ran, who hates all men just as much as he despises women. Mi-ran’s exceptional fighting skills come to great use for Kang-ho when the romcom king has to train to be a street fighter for his upcoming movie.
Things start becoming chaotic between the two opposites when Mi-ran discovers that Kang-ho is not the villain she presumes him to be and Kang-ho realises that Mi-ran’s fighting skills are not the only things attractive about her. The show begins in chaos right off the bat and one falls in love with the characters in an instant.
Kang-ho is really a likeable character but it is Mi-ran and her unapologetic personality that is the killing point of this one. The plot of the show may resemble many other K-dramas that we have seen in the past but Kang-ho’s aversion to women is what makes Love To Hate You really fun.
The main characters on this show are very well written and their respective journeys from having their reservations about the opposite sex. We also have side characters like Soo-jin, an actress who runs into trouble when she gets divorced from her cheating husband.
There is also Na-eun who is in debt because of her dating choices and Won-jun who steers clear of relationships because he thinks he is not accomplished professionally despite being the CEO of an Entertainment company
The show has a pretty unique take on the modern misogynistic culture where men have started hating women for wanting equal rights. The show gives us both ends of the spectrum and narrates the life of a woman who has only dated bad men all her life which has made her hate men.
Despite its main narrative, Love To Hate You is an outright romantic drama because who doesn’t want a guy that hates every other woman in the world but you? However, seeing the condition of Kang-ho’s mental health and Mi-ran’s doubting nature that makes her overthink to extreme levels, I can see why they hate the opposite sex so much.
Kang-ho was heartbroken by a materialistic girl and he now hates every woman who is materialistic as a result. When he sees Mi-ran, a woman who is unlike the rest and does not seek princess-like treatment, Kang-ho cannot help but contain his emotions.
Mi-ran has only had bad experiences with men and it seems like she is done trying to change men or find one that is the best for her. As a result, Mi-ran is more focused on paying her bills and enjoying her life.
When anyone gets in the way of that, Mi-ran gives them a valuable lesson on why they shouldn’t mess with her… to begin with. The show is a really fun watch from start to finish and is very bingeable.
Throughout its 10 episodes, characters from the show have pretty great development and you fall in love with each character one after the other. The show’s soundtrack is star-studded with songs from artists like Miyeon & Yuqi from (G)I-DLE, Taeil from NCT 127, Big Naughty as well as Lily & Sullyoon from NMIXX.
The title track – ‘Love To Hate You’ by Big Naughty – is an addictive theme as it can get whereas ‘Lovey Dovey’ by NCT 127’s Taeil is the perfect peppy love track. With the fact that Mi-ran’s character is a fighter, the show gives you a lot of enjoyable action scenes.
Despite its stereotypical enemies-to-lovers trope, as well as the fake dating trope, Love To Hate You gives a fresh take on feminism where it reinstates how women do not really need men after all but can fall for the right man on their own terms.
Netflix really did a good job with this one and there’s definitely potential here for another season. For now though, the 10 episodes here make for a really enjoyable drama.
Feel Free To Check Out More Of Our TV Show Reviews Here!
-
Verdict - 9/10
9/10