No Gain No Love review: Shin Min-A and Kim Young-Dae redefine K-drama norms while staying true to its essence!

No Gain No Love came as a surprise to us all, and in all its glory, it broke many K-drama stereotypes and our review talks about how it smoothly manages to do that!

No Gain No Love review: For eons, women in K-dramas have been portrayed to be the most perfect girl to exist. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve always been opinionated and independent characters but ones who keep their private lives private, are always poised and can do no wrong. Another thing that’s brushed under the carpet in K-dramas - sex. While there’s enough and more romance and kisses, sex is something they’d never openly talk about in their stories. But Shin Min-Ah and Kim Young-Dae’s No Gain No Love came as an absolute shocker when it broke all of these unsaid rules and literally became one of the most un K-dramas, K-dramas ever!

The Korean name of the series is ‘Sonhae Bogi Shiroeso’ which translates to ‘I hate losses’ and that is the main idea with which the story begins. Son Hae-Young (Shin Min-Ah) is done losing out on benefits at work because she's not married. She has given away enough and more envelopes at weddings and now she feels it's her turn to benefit from the whole marriage system. Hence she comes up with the plan to stage a fake marriage with the first guy she comes across aka a part timer at her nearest convenience store, Kim Ji-Uk (Kim Dae-Young). He agrees to comply with her plan but before they know it, they’re entangled with each other for a longer time than they expected. How they continue to hide their secret while also developing feelings for one another is the crux of the story.

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Son Hae-Young is shown to be a messy, flawed woman and I love that from the very first episode. She openly talks about having dated a lot of men and how sex is an important part of being happy in a relationship for her. She smokes, she cusses and she’s older than the male lead. I love that they chose to portray her like that because women are not these perfect robots who succumb to unrealistic beauty standards; They aren't damsels in distress and who never kiss and tell. We love sex, just as much as the men do and we’re not afraid to talk about it. Also, for the longest time on-screen, the female leads used to be half the age of the male leads and nobody batted an eye, but here the female lead is the older one and it challenges the norms of society that judges couples where the woman is older. If all of this wasn’t enough, the show also portrays an open relationship through its supporting characters like Cha Hee Seung and her boyfriend who decide the terms of their relationship. And then there’s Nam Ja-Yeon played by Ha Ji-Hyun, who is an adult webtoon writer and her arc as well is just as meaningful. She is shown to face a lot of judgment from people because she writes R rated stories but she is more than just that. She has fought her way through a traumatic childhood, and while certain fears from her past still catch up to her, it was rather brave of her to take charge of her own life and make a name for herself. It was triggering to watch some of her scenes but it also helped me root for her character so much.

Son Hae-Young’s mother constantly took in orphaned children to foster at her house. This made Hae-Young feel like her attention was being divided and that affected the relationships she developed in the future. Ji-Uk was raised by his grandmother and often felt hurt that his parents abandoned him which is why he grew up to be someone who always puts other people's needs first, simply so that they don't leave him. Bok Gyu-Hyun (Lee Sang-Yi) has lived a very comfortable and privileged life but the minute Nam Ja-Yeon has the slightest inconvenience, it brings out a side in him even he didn’t know existed. The story gives ample backstory as reasoning for why the characters think the way they do and I really liked watching that unfold.

Coming to the romance, here’s where they still stay true to the quintessential K-drama essence. Ji-Uk is head over heels in love with Hae-Young and he goes above and beyond to show her that. His wholesome little proposal at the convenience store before their fake wedding, him saving her face at work or when they kissed for the first time will remain in my head rent free. And to go with this, I also love when there’s also a good second lead love story going on simultaneously. Bok Gyu-Hyun and Nam Ja-Yeon went from enemies to lovers real quick and it was ‘kicking my feet in the air’ kinda cute. It highlights how people can grow and be the best version of themselves for someone they love deeply. Their proposal will make it to my 'Top 5 K-drama proposal lists' for sure and with their spin-off ‘Spice Up Our Love’ on the way, I’m only excited to see more of them.

The climax of the show did not live up to my expectations simply because I felt like the lead couple should’ve gotten more screen time and the conflict between them was not required. Overall, No Gain No Love was a show that I did not expect a lot from and it surprisingly made me look forward to it every week. It is the modern day version of a K-drama and I love that the makers are ready to explore more than what’s being shown to us as 'the idea of love'.

No Gain No Love is currently streaming on Prime Video!

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