The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (2022)

I'm being lenient with the ratings??

the story was literally FLAT I did not feel any connection between the characters..if the backstory (the 300 yes ago) part of the story was shown first and then the present time .I could've probably liked it better..since I felt everything was too fast without any development whatsoever...

and also tbh I was actually supporting Denis and seol (I knew they weren't going to be together at the end but still cuz I felt there was a little more depth to their feelings a ) not to mention I only supported Denis until he became too obsessed to the point of killing the Director

I felt nooo no no emotional connection with the drama probably coz it was too fast paced...I haven't read the webtoon yet so I cannot say if it's adapted nicely or not

I literally fast forwarded thru most of the eps..also first 2 or 3 eps were like literally plain fansercice

moreover the romance between the couple also felt bland with no depth to their relationship whatsoever...I never got butterflies watching them kiss...while on the other hand..seol just supporting and helping Denis through a panic attack felt very nice to watch
usually I'm more interested in kissing scenes and wd blush even at the sight of them holding hands but this time I never blushed??

and the acting wasn't bland but I feel if the story was better or more nicely executed I wouldn't have anything bad to say about the acting because again there was no connettionnnn

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The premise is great; the runtime too short.

The idea to blend an office setting / a boss-employee-dynamic with a fantasy plot of reincarnation and curses which have to be broken, is interesting.

Unfortunately, the boss-employee-dynamics with its inherent power imbalance is only kind of important in the beginning -- for me, Dong Baek was much too accepting of Yu Dam's story. But that may be because I did not feel a connection between the director and his employee. The director was so standoffish at the beginning, and then suddenly, he is concerned annd worried? The employee is confused and more than a bit uncomfortable, and then, suddenly -- love? A bit more time for character development would have been nice.

I think there's a lot of more character back-story and world-building here than we get to see; and this is what makes the whole series feel unfinished. It is as if we get an incomplete puzzle and are asked to fill in the missing pieces ourselves, and the pieces that are there are just the people, and none of the surroundings.
We don't know why it was so important that the "child of god" / "the kid who grew up in the shaman's house" not get a name. We don't know who it was who shot Dong Baek (looked like Dennis, maybe?) and why. We don't know what kind of curse it is and how exactly it can be broken. And we don't know how Yu Dam knows. We don't know who is was who possessed Dong Baek that one time. We don't know anything about Dennis, and why he thinks so lowly of Yu Dam.
The list could go on and on.

I don't understand why those who were responsible chose this story when it was clear that there's not a lot of time to fully explore it. Even a 10-episode drama of 25 to 30 minutes per episode would have been enough to at least explain the most pressing questions.
But if you know that you don't have the time, then why not choose a much simpler story?

As it is, most of the episodes felt rushed or disjointed (or both); which is a pity since the acting and most technical aspects were fine.

The ending .... is probably something people love or hate. It's open-ended bt hopeful; and I think it fits so I like it.

If you're interested and have the time, you could watch it -- it's short enough and certainly not bad enough -- and form your own opinion.

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At first I said, "Let's hear about the director." Now I no longer want to hear

At first, I said, "Let's hear about the director." Now I no longer want to hear

I just had some sort of midlife crisis. Because I texted my boyfriend that I love him and that I want him to be real.

Typically dramas do not mess with my head this bad. And the acting in this drama was in no way the best I have ever seen. But something about this fuck me up. Like bad. Like I have been crying bad.

I'll try to be quick. The whole plot and the ending. Where it was all a dream was fucked. It was all a dream that Dongbaek had to remember. Why does he have to carry the burden now? How is this freeing him from Min's graph?

The line: "a name binds you" was so damn deep. Had me rethinking everything I have done until this point. Is it because of the name I was given at birth? How different would my life have been if I were given a different name?

There were a lot of lines that I felt just sat inside my soul...none of which I can directly quote at the moment.

Finally, the background story was soul-crushing. He couldn't save him and now he is paying the price.

However, one thing I noticed is there has to be some sort of age gap between the two of them. I mean bro was a teenager/child when he was def a bit older.

The actor of the director had this soulless look on his face for 75% of the show. I feel like that fucked with me a lot. But I think he just has a lot of Botox to the point where he struggles to pull an expression other than stone-cold. (i could be wrong though since i did not research this whatsoever)

My final verdict is an 8.5/10. I cant go any higher because I wanted more romance and all I got was trauma.

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enjoyable with a certain uniqueness

This was alright! I enjoyed watching, but the characters didn't really grow on me. Which is unfortunate because shows of similar length got me to relate or sympathize with the characters in the same amount of time. As I finished this show, my only thought was "Well, this definitely is an ending." and I was ready to move on.

The story in of itself is quite unique for BLs, but fell a little flat as it requires a lot more depth than these short productions, I believe. So as a viewer, we don't get enough time to explore Yu Dam's pain and understand his despair. This being said - Yu Dam's intentions/memories from the beginning vs the end of the show seem a little iffy and kind of just made to fit the narrative. The Plot: Hole.

I was also disappointed in the character writing of Denis. What the hell ): I would've loved to see more of his character. I feel like he was just a plot device. Side characters usually are, but they really just... made him do things u know? No reason, no explanation. We just kind of have to think our part.

Overall, the acting performance of the cast is average but definitely enjoyable. The production is very good as well, which enhanced the viewing experience for sure. I loved all the little scenes of slight touches and movements.

Let me summarize this review and give you a recommendation:
It's alright. It's worth a binge if you're looking for something lighthearted.

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Wasted potential

The storyline was not new but I personally still liked it. But the finale? I don't think it was well presented. It left me with a "that's it??" (on the negative side).

The problem with this drama is the plot holes:

-Who was Denis truly?
-How/why did Dongbaek fall in love with the director?
-What happens with Denis after the time skip?
-Does the director recover his memory?

I saw a post where it explained everything about the manhwa and it was so much better than the series finale. It explained everything very well so, if you are not watching because you specially like the actors, I recomend to directly read the manhwa.

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Straight outta Wattpad

Kudos to South Korea for always having innovative plots that tend to involve time travel or supernatural occurrences. 

This time, it’s a cursed soul looking for a specific person, and desperately trying to fall in love with them because if he doesn’t, they will end up dying. Just like in all their previous lives.

If not for this plot, the behaviour of the director would actually have been reallllyyyyy creepy and unacceptable. Imagine taking your employee out for dinner on his first night and telling him, “We need to date” / “If you don’t date me, you may die.” 

Frankly, the whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies and all this could have easily been a HR/police case in the real world… But I’ll cut this story some slack because it’s clearly straight out from Wattpad.

Let's be clear: I don’t have anything against Wattpad-esque shows. Sometimes, a cringey, back-you-up-against-a-wall-and-tell-you-they-won’t-hold-back-any-longer show is exactly what you need. DWBMD is big on these tropes, but thin on the actual love story. It was puzzling how Yudam and Dongbaek fell in love rather quickly, and I couldn’t vibe with their chemistry that much.

The plot, while seemingly promising at first, fell flat on the execution. It was super confusing at some parts and took about 6-7 episodes (OUT OF 10, MIND YOU), for the show to start revealing the backstory of what’s going on. And by the end, I was still left with some unanswered questions.

Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/director-who-buys-me-dinner-2022-bl-review/

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Not bad for a KBl

CONTAINS SEMI SPOILERS IG

Thoughts:
I’m honestly a little disappointed. The webcomic for this drama has 48 episodes while the drama has only 10 episodes that are about 15 mins each. The director in the webcomic is drawn to be a bit younger and acts more flirtatious and full of emotions than the drama one. The webcomic Seol DongBaek is just so cute. He acts super sweet and innocent. Now, typically I don’t find myself enjoying KBl due to the incredible short amount of run time and lack of understanding. However I think this KBl is by far one of the best ones that explains what tf is happening. In other Kbls it mostly just skims around and jumps so you can never fully grasp but I found myself understanding for the most part what was happening. The concept of this was actually pretty interesting but I feel like it just told what happened to them 300 years ago and doesn’t like explain much about why they like each other or what they did together as a couple 300 years ago since they were definitely not of the same class in hierarchy. It just said ‘hey you name that kid? Well he’s going to die and now you guys are stuck reincarnating to fall in love. One of you is going to remember the other is not. Oh and btw if you guys fail to fall in love one of you is going to suffer and yk possibly die.’ And that’s pretty much it. I feel it didn’t explain enough about the curse at all. The curse was just ‘y’all are going to live forever and fall in love or else die on each reincarnation.’ It never really explained how the curse would be lifted or when they would know.

This is a pretty cute Kbl. The acting isn’t bad at all. Although I am confuzzled because before the director is like kind of emotionless and serious but after um everything he’s like oddly warm and welcoming to Seol DongBaek. Maybe it’s because he don’t remember anything. Idk anymore. Although in the drama when the director gets flustered I must say it is funny and kinda cute in a sense. The acting is nice and pretty believable. I think the chemistry is great and was not bad at all. The way the cast acted was very good.

The story:
Firstly I have a theory that Denis may in fact be the killer from 300 years ago who was also cursed to keep reliving over and over again. So maybe the curse is more of a ‘hey fall in love or your killer will like yk become a murderer again.’ The story is not bad at all. It’s nice and has a good flow of events. However I personally would’ve liked to see Seol DongBaek regain his memories. I mean it’s fine that he doesn’t and it doesn’t change the story but if he did I think that would’ve been pretty cool. I would’ve definitely like to have seen more of the director and Seol DongBaek’s relationship. I almost feel like Seol DongBaek spent more time with Denis than the director. This may be petty but I need more of jealous director moments. I swear if the director found out about the um cosmetic situation with Denis he’d flip. This Kbl definitely has its comedic moments though. I mean I’m sure some of you have seen shorts on YT about it. This Kbl actually has a lot of emotions happening. So be prepared *dabs eyes with tissue*

Music: The music was actually really good. I think the intro music was really cute and I thought it was very nice. Now the OST was freakin beautiful. It fits perfectly for this Kbl. It was so emotional.

I definitely have already rewatched it because I think it’s pretty enjoyable. It’s nice and simple with just the right amount of emotion. I just pray we get a second season because WTF was that ending? I mean come onnnn. You can’t end a Bl like that and make no announcements about a second season. Although it is pretty in line with the ending of the webcomic so I guess I can’t be too mad at it.

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Don't think of this as a series...

I have read many of the reviews and found that because expectations were not met - this is a bad series or, has too many flaws.
If you haven't seen it yet - remove that thinking before you even watch this.

Think of it as a movie cut up into a mini series. What I have found and, thanks to Viki - many of these productions are movies that are cut up and presented as series. On some platforms you have the choice to watch the 10-12 episodes with recaps - five minute intro songs and 4 minutes of closing credits. Or, you can watch it as it was originally made - a three plus hour movie in one wonderful sitting (Semantic Error and Wish You are two good examples).

I watched The Director... in its multiple episode format and forgave them for all the wasted time. I learned to fast forward through the beginning and skip the credits. This is a movie and should eventually, be presented as one.

If you look at the story (and I have watched it whole three times), they covered all the bases. They showed you:

- Who - the principle characters back then and now. Back then and now - he only thought of himself and didn't think about or, care about the repercussions. It was only after ignoring the warnings and watching him die again that he let go of all the control and regardless of what would happen to him - begged that Dong Baek's life be saved. The universe gives them another chance - wonderful ending.

- What - while we would all like more detail, they covered everything. Back story, reasons why and good character development. All we needed to know about the Director Yu Dam is he is singularly focused and doesn't care who gets lost in the shuffle when he is going for what he wants. We see that he has used and tossed aside Dennis while waiting for Dong Baek.

- When - both past and present are covered enough for a K Drama movie. Just thank god it wasn't a Chinese 42 episode drama where they keep some of the main characters with mental issues so, they learn nothing for the first 24 episodes and only start to show growth after.

- Where and Why - Selfishness and single minded thinking drive the past and present. Everyone reacts to that. After he finally lets go of that need for control can we see finally working out.

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Worth it only if you want to be pissed off in the end

I hate sad or open endings in romance dramas. I don’t watch romance to be fucking depressed. That’s stupid. The content was squished into these small af episodes which left the viewers with no closure even though the webtoon gave us. I don’t want a BL that does not necessarily have a chance for a second season to have such an open ended shitty ending. I want closure and a happy ending. The writers and director just need to be creative if they want to create a second season that doesn’t suck as well. Not this though. Both of the main actors were amazing. Denis was such a stupid character. Angry and insane with no little to no explanation unlike in the webtoon. At least make the dumb shit he does make sense. Too bad these two amazing lead actors were stuck with such a shitty ending. Worth it but only if you want to be pissed off in the end.

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