Love Like a Kdrama Episodes 8 and 9 Review: The new episodes of the Japanese-Korean reality series (韓国ドラマな恋がしたい) on Netflix again particularly bring back the focus on the brewing love triangle between Nozomi Bando, Kim Dong-kyu and Rio Yamashita. The romance reality TV series stars a total of eight contestants – four Japanese actresses and four Korean actors. In addition to the aforementioned trio, the others are Ayano Kudo and Honoka Kitahara, and Kim Won-shik, seen in K-dramas True Beauty and Alchemy of Souls, K-pop group Supernova member Song Ji-hyuk, and model / rookie actor Lee Tae-gyun.
Additionally, the cast also includes Yuko Fueki aka Yumin steps as the host, with studio members, Haruna Kondo, Aa-Chan, Shusuke Fukutoku, Hayato Komori (GENERATIONS), and Maria Tani, offering live commentary. Directed by Yoshiaki Suzuki, the series consists of 12 episodes, and has been produced under the banner of TV Man Union. Episodes 8 and 9 were released on Netflix on December 12, 2023, each having a runtime of 41-49 minutes.
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Love Like a Kdrama Netflix Review for Episodes 8 and 9Contains Spoilers
Love Like a Kdrama Plot
A group of eight male and female actors is enlisted to live together as they all pair up for auditions to star in mini romance K-dramas. As four Japanese actresses arrive in Seoul to manifest their acting dreams, they have to overcome the language barrier as they join Korean crews for filming, and also Korean male partners, with whom they also have a chance to engage in real romance off-screen.
While some of these actors stay focussed on their aspirations to take flight as budding actors, others are also simultaneously caught in the love network. Some develop genuine bonds with their partners, while others vie for a place beside the ones they admire as someone else comes closer to their crushes.
Love Like a Kdrama Episodes 8 and 9 Review
Love Like a Kdrama Episode 8 and 9 Recap
The eighth episode brings around the next audition for the 5th episode of the mini K-drama series they’ve all been shooting for so far. However, other than the onscreen pressure of wanting to bag the leading role, the contestants also have a hard time dealing with their feelings. With Rio and Dong-kyu growing closer than ever, Nozomi still gives it her all one last time to see if she can win back Dong-kyu’s attention again. Meanwhile, Won-shik also continues to pine for Nozomi in the background, and with them being granted a chance to pick their partners for the next audition, things get messier.
Dong-kyu ends up pairing up with both Rio and Nozomi, and Won-shik also auditions twice – once with Honoka and Nozomi. Ayano, too ends up with both Ji-hyuk and Tae-gyun, but in her case, it’s evident that she likes the latter more, and that dynamic isn’t given much screen-time and attention as the former love pentagon.
Love Like a Kdrama Episode 9 proceeds with everyone’s true feelings out in the open, which makes the audition process a bit awkward and tense. The judges are perceptive enough to see through the contestants and their developing feelings as they audition with varying energies and determination depending on who they’re auditioning with. Nozomi especially leaves a mark with her auditions, but her latter performance with Dong-kyu helps her channel her true conflicting feelings, knowing that Dong-kyu likes Rio, and it particularly stands out as compared to the other girls’ auditions. She and Dong-kyu are picked for the episode ultimately, but awkward tension persists.
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Love Like a Kdrama Episode 8 and 9 Review
It’s quite natural for one’s true feelings to overpower those that come up while acting and concocting a make-believe dynamic. When the contestants are judged for their auditions in these two episodes, these cross-connections became more apparent than ever. And we have to give it to the new judges for this segment as they’re able to see right through them all, and call out their lacking professionalism.
The show constantly reminds us that these actors who’d been tasked to participate in this reality series are all rookies. The way each evaluator leaves them with unfiltered words of advice and lessons for them to better their art, it keeps the premise authentic instead of just wandering away or strictly making it all about romance blossoming behind-the-scenes.
It was good to see Nozomi finally take the lead in the auditions as well, and her emotional journey of coming to terms with letting go of her feelings for Dong-kyu really pulls you in whether you’d like to admit it or not. In the meantime, I also appreciated how she didn’t lead Won-shik on despite knowing his feelings for her. She stayed true to what she was feeling, and took ample amount of time to work out her own way of accepting the situation at hand and finally letting go of Dong-kyu.
In a way, she and Honoka are now in a similar boat, especially with both of them having first rejected Won-shik, and now trying their all to win him over as their partner for the final audition. While it’s natural for quite a few viewers to see Nozomi in a bad light, I just wanted to reiterate that they’re both dealing with a similar struggle to strike it out with Won-shik.
I just hope that the next few episodes won’t end up painting either of them in a bad light as they give it their all to earn a spot beside Won-shik for the next audition. Watching this whole thing turn into a bitter “cat fight” is the last thing that I want to witness next. However, there’s no denying that they’re in a fix right now, and I can’t help but wonder how they’ll find a way out of this without turning it all into a toxic mess.
Love Like a Kdrama Reality Show: Final Thoughts
The cross-border reality series has made it visibly obvious as to who the main players are here. The focus has drastically shifted from some contestants to a certain few. Even though Ayano, Tae-gyun and Ji-hyuk were also tied up in a love triangle, barely any efforts were made dramatically or strategically to invite the viewers’ interest towards them. On the other hand, Nozomi’s arc has especially consumed the dramatic quotient of the series’ runtime, making it nearly impossible for the audience to turn away from her story.
It’s almost as if the show is pushing for us to root for her, but only the next sequence will determine where our emotional connection with her will go. How she reacts to being roped into another love triangle with Won-shik and Honoka will decide where the viewers’ loyalty towards her lies. Yet, it’s unfortunate that the series is barely putting in any efforts to make its other contestants seem interesting, almost as if it’s given up on the others to drive the show’s behind-the-scenes drama.
Love Like a K-drama is now streaming on Netflix.
Also read: All Our Love Like a Kdrama Reviews