Story:

Ja-yeon and Bok Gyu-hyun from No Gain No Love find themselves stuck in the world of one of Bo-ra (Ja-yeon's alias)' steamy novels. Currently in a tough situation in the real world, they are forced to be lovers in the alternate universe. This ride makes them fall in love in real-life too. Explore two episodes of their journey once Ja-yeon starts dreaming.

Review:

Spice Up Our Love begins with a shocker. Originally Ja-yeon, Han Ji-hyun nails it as the fictional character Seo Yeon-seo, who is hiding a big secret. The camera angles, the ticking clock, and the parallel scenes all make the beginning of this show absolutely brilliant!

From suspense, the show's attention shifts to comedy. It's all in the small moments.

The show takes inspiration from Ji Chang-wook and Shin Hye-sun's Welcome to Samdal-ri when it comes to a cheating ex. The scene, despite being inspired, still works.

Park Jeong-woo as Kim Do-geum is brilliant as always. He is the lead villain and can he play that so well!

The stories of Yeon-seo, Han-ju and Do-geum are strikingly similar with Ja-yeon, Secretary Yeo, and Bok Gyu-hyun's story from No Gain No Love. There's a major hint that this is one of Ja-yeon's novels. And of course, it is. This is the one among many stories, called Spice Up Our Love, something that begins after Ja-yeon falls out of love with Secretary Yeo (Lee Yoo-jin) and in love with the manager, Bok Gyu-hyun (Lee Sang-yi).

Hui-seong (Joo Min-kyung) is back briefly, and the story begins from the moment Ja-yeon sued her future lover, Gyu-hyun. The scene between the two sisters is heartwarming.

The makers subtly sexualize Ja-yeon herself, and although that should look sexy, it is far from that. Like we have already seen in No Gain No Love, Ja-yeon is a sweet woman stereotyped as naughty by the world, only to be accepted for who she is. The same graph appears to unfold in Spice Up Our Love, and to say the least, it is unappealing.

Before Gyu-hyun appears on this show, his letter does. All we see is Ja-yeon's side of the story. Lee Sang-yi's appearance on the show is far from new. It is the recap of Ja-yeon insulting his character Gyu-hyun by throwing his apology letters to his face. It is the moment he almost died right after she asked him to. This was a high point on No Gain No Love and is back here. It was in this moment that Gyu-hyun first saved Ja-yeon and brought her to his house to care for her.

Ja-yeon's story gets intertwined with Seo yeon-seo's, and even if confusing, it is slightly hilarious. It is in this scene that Sang-yi finally makes his first appearance on the show, and his words confuse you further. The story messes up with your mind until the truth is revealed. You, however, enjoy the ride no matter how bizarre it is.

Song Joon-ki and Cha Eun-woo get a special mention on the show, and the scenes are super cute. The series has an Exhuma reference, and that works just as much.

The love between these two leads is on another level. It is grand, and there's no logic to it, just the feels.

The chemistry between Han Ji-hyun and Gyu-hyun is still funny and adorable. While he's a dork, she's a scared puppy. Together, they make the cutest pair as always.

With Spice Up Our Love, you mainly get to see what goes inside Ja-yeon's mind every time she's around Gyu-hyun. With that, we know the first time Ja-yeon fell in love with Gyu-hyun. Thus, now you know why hers was an instant yes when Gyu-hyun confessed his feelings for Ja-yeon in front of Shin Min-ah's Hae-yeong and Kim Young-dae's Ji-uk in No Gain No Love. The contrast in the actions and her thoughts are what make the scene beautiful. In this scene, Ja-yeon also proves why she truly is Hae-yeong's sister, from her delulu world, and reality are strikingly different, and both are amazing to watch.

After some bizarre but funny moments, the story moves forward. There's a lot of thrill involved nonetheless.

With their unreal action and romance, Spice Up Our Love brings back what K-Dramas have essentially been - unreal but romantic to no end.

The chemistry between Sang-yi and Han-ju is amazing. It is seductive, and you cannot take your eyes off them even if you try to.

The second episode continues with the same vibe, except you see Gyu-hyun enact exactly himself around Secretary Yeo. When the story gets too much to handle, the makers bring a beautiful scene as a distraction. It is the romance being at the peak.

Ja-yeon's important scene, one that develops her personality and becomes the biggest hurdle in her relationship with Gyu-hyun, is beautifully mired into Yeon-seo's story. Their relationship before everything went downhill is explored, and of course, they were just like any other daughter-father, with hints of cracks forming in their relationship.

In the last scene of the novel, Kang Ha-jun, played by Lee Sang-yi, gets his heroic entry. Rising from the shadows, he's the only saviour for Yeon-seo.

The transition from their fictional love story to Ja-yeon finding Gyu-hyun on the ground after what could have been his accident is beautiful. Wait on, since Sang-yi has a special surprise in the post-credit scene. With that, the series becomes one special surprise from the makers of No Gain No Love.

Verdict:

Be ready, for this show is going to be your next guilty pleasure! From Han Ji-hyun's whole new side to Lee Sang-yi continuing his adorably dork character, the series is for everyone who wished to see where their romance developed. This one is short and sweet, and definitely worth your time, despite the minor bizarre moments.

Read Also: The Signature review: Anupam Kher and Neena Kulkarni's story of love, hope and survival will tug at your heartstrings

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