Will Kim Yoo-Jung save the series? In short, not really.
This article is written in English.
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TL;DR
In short, "Dear X" (2025) is a slow-paced thriller drama, that unfortunately couldn't really build the momentum.
Warning and Brief Explanation
Brief Warning
This review article contains spoilers. Please refrain yourself if you don't want to spoil yourself.
Age Rating
- TVING classified this series as 19 in the rating on their official page.
- Understandable, considering all that violence, blood, and bad/harsh words.
Notice
- This article aimed to review this series and spread information about it.
- No copyright infringement intended, aside from this article, that is written by myself.
- Media shown here, whether images, videos, or such, are embedded from the original source.
Introduction
To be honest, I couldn't remember well, but I don't think Kim Yoo-Jung has starred in that many movies or series lately. Looking at her filmography on Wikipedia, seems like she has at least one appearance in a year. Hence, I couldn't remember seeing any promo of hers in the past few years. There are some special appearances, cameo, and series in 2023 to 2024, but it seems like it's not really a movie or a series that shoots for a long period.
So... It's probably safe to say that this is probably her comeback after some time.
But well... Will this series going to be good?
Oh! Before continuing, one of my viewers asked me if I had watched this series while I was streaming, and I said, "I haven't". And today, as it's my "free day", I decided to tune in to some episodes.
Prior to reading this review, you could watch this trailer available on YouTube:
Trailer
Details and Viewer Discretion
Series Details
The following information was compiled from various sources, namely its entry on Viki1, IMDb2, HanCinema3, and my own understanding4.
| Title | Dear X |
|---|---|
| Also Known As (a.k.a) | μΉμ νλ X3
There are various translations of this title in various languages, which can be read here2. |
| Released on | 06 November 20253. |
| Genre | Melodrama1, Crime1, Romance1,3, Thriller3, Suspense1, Psychological Thriller2. |
| Type | Series. |
| Running Time | 60 min (1 h)2. |
| Notable People2,3 |
|
| Original Country1 | South Korea. |
| Spoken Language2 | Korean. |
| Subtitle | Various languages of subtitles are already available on Viki. |
| Platform or Where to Watch1,3 | You can watch this series on Viki, HBO Max, and TVING. |
| Viewer Discretion4 | The blood and violence in this series are pretty strong. At least there is a bloody scene/violent scene in each episode. I watched until episode 4, and there is always a violent scene, torture, or close-up to a certain body part/face where blood is showing clearly. Well, even though it's a series. |
Review
Theme, Background
The series revolves around Baek Ah-jin, played by Kim Yoo-jung, as the main stars in this series. Baek Ah-jin, who reached her stardom, was introduced as someone manipulative, responsible for some murders and crimes, and such. The information was shown clearly in some texts in the introduction of episode 1. So viewers don't have to guess anymore, as the writer/editor probably intended this to be.
Baek Ah-jin was not going through a good childhood, as she usually got tortured by her mother, yet his father didn't do anything—or perhaps more like giving up already—to defend his daughter. And the snowball rolls from there. Bad childhood -> Manipulative -> It goes on till she grows as an adult. As she's portrayed as someone manipulative, well... The story revolves around that and how she is able to manipulate anyone who is in contact with her.
Characters, Story Flow, Dialogue, Point of View
Characters
Well, regarding characters, I guess we could divide the characters into a few circles:
- Main character: Baek Ah-jin, as the main character, like truly the main star in this series. Everything revolves around her.
- Supporting characters:
- Baek Ah-jin's father: Bae Soo-bin
- Baek Ah-jin's stepbrother: Yoon Joon-seo
- Baek Ah-jin's "lackey": Kim Jae-ho
- Baek Ah-jin's boss: Choi Jung-ho
- Additional characters: Well, this includes other characters such as Sim Sung-Hee, Hwang Ji-Sun, and others.
I guess that could divide how the characters work in this series. The main character, Baek Ah-jin, truly becomes the spotlight for each episode, as there are not that many stories going on for the other characters. There are some side stories, for example, what happened to Yoon Joon-seo, what happened to Bae Soo-bin, and so on, but most of them are actually still related to the main character, Baek Ah-jin.
Story Flow
The series starts with the future, with Baek Ah-jin walking on the red carpet, then goes back to a few years before Baek Ah-jin became a superstar, when she was a high-school student, graduated, working part-time, and then got scouted to be a superstar.
Dialogue
If I remember correctly, most of the time, they speak in Korean. The dialogue was clear, and you can hear practically every dialogue spoken. The background and the music will not disturb your experiences.
Point of View
I guess we are using Baek Ah-jin's point of view, as the story mostly revolves around her. There are some moments where they tell some background regarding other characters, so during these scenes, they are probably using our point of view as viewers.
Conflicts
Hm... Talking about conflicts... There are some:
- Baek Ah-jin seems to be considered as someone weak by her teacher and a "powerful" student in her class. Baek Ah-jin then showed them that they are playing with the wrong person.
- Baek Ah-jin saved Yoon Joon-seo in one moment, but as he felt that he was not "loved" by his mother, he felt he owed Baek Ah-jin for the rest of his life, as that one moment made Joon-seo feel like "Wow, someone actually cared and showed me who cares to me or not." Unfortunately, this also made Joon-seo—who seems smart enough in school—become so stupid that Ah-jin is the number one person in my life, even above myself. It’s okay if I do something stupid/wrong/sacrifice myself, as long as Ah-jin is safe. Which is… Stupid. But that’s probably the point of his character.
- Drunkard and Gambler parents of Baek Ah-jin.
- And of course, the manipulative trait of Baek Ah-jin herself.
My Review
To be honest, while watching episode 1, I didn't feel that it was going to be good. The acting was there, the music, the cinematography, all looked good. But at the same time it felt... Hollow. Like the episode, perhaps just wanted to show that "messing with Baek Ah-jin = you are gonna screw up even more". But at the same time, it doesn't build the momentum as a cunning manipulator.
It just doesn't feel...
"Aha!" "Oh???" "Whoa" "She did that?" "Wait, what?"
Somehow, that was my expectation if I was watching a series/movie where manipulation is the main theme of the storyline. Yet... It doesn't deliver. It does show some scenes where Baek Ah-jin is the one who frames the X—which practically means "target", in this series, not exes—but it just doesn't really build up to that "WOW" point.
Sure, there is some bullying, torture from "powerful" characters, which is shown as Sim Sung-Hee, the Homeroom Teacher, the Father, and the Detective. But... Most of the time it doesn't feel like she is actually doing something.
I watched the series in 1.5x to 2x, though, as it felt so slow. But after episode 4, I decided I was just going to drop this series.
At the same time, as someone who finished Matlock Season 1 and has currently watched all episodes in Season 2, I always felt the writer actually built the momentum and delivered it well. The episodes of Matlock felt like it's full of twists after twists, jab, backstab, manipulation, counterattack, which makes you not even think that it could go to a certain branch of the story. Matlock also barely has any bloody scenes, until just one episode in Season 2. And that's a really long time. Back then, I also watched Ratched, and it felt good. She is truly a manipulator, and it makes you feel that she is actually "scary".
Unfortunately, for Dear X, it feels tame, and as I said on TL;DR, sadly, with all those acting, cinematography, props, and background music, it just doesn't deliver.
Conclusion
Do I Recommend This Series?
No?
If you have plenty of time, or just need something as a background noise... Perhaps? But I won't recommend this series. There are lots of better series with "manipulator" as the main theme, and as someone who doesn't have that much time, I'd rather not continue watching this series. Go watch something else.
So, for me, I scored this series as:
π Quite Bad
That's all for now. Thank you for reading this review, and see you in another post. Bye! ππ»