everybodyScream wrote: I envy you for the fact that you can actually watch dramas together with someone. Must be fun. I’m grateful there’s MDL and all you dears, but still… Guess I need to convert someone. One of my friends? My little sister? My mom? Granny? Godmother? Cousin? Who would be the weakest and easiest victim? Muahahaha… :P
Hehehe, I have to admit to purposefully ensnaring her. We don't have cable in our apartment since all of us are broke graduate students, so one of my flatmates rigged up our television so that we can plug in our laptops and watch videos through the tv. The thing is with three of us there's a bit of conflict surrounding what to watch, so we decided that the fair way to do it was to vote on what gets played through the tv. Needless to say, I was always outvoted. BUT NOT ANYMORE MWUAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. *ahem*
Re: Sang Hee--- I think there were small directorial hints in episode 9 that tried to clue us into Sang Hee's feelings. I'm recalling the scene when Ah Jung goes to the cafe and finds Yoon Joo there along with the usual crowd. After everyone greeted Ah Jung, they all turned back to Yoon Joo, except for Sang Hee who kept leaning back in his chair and smiling at Ah Jung like a puppy greeting its owner. It was a quick moment, and I actually rewound a bit to re-watch it, but I remember thinking, "...Huh. I see what you're doing there. STOP IT." Even if that were the case, that the director was trying to slip in a "moment", I agree with you all that it's still too sudden and inexplicable given the dynamic that's already been established between the two.
Really, I'm just going to go with the flow here, since the drama itself has made a sudden shift in tone and direction. Other characters too have suffered from this: as much as I like the upgraded So Ran v.2.0, her confrontation with Ki Joon in which she tries to salvage Ah Jung's pride also came out of the blue, not being something one would expect from a character who was portrayed as so immature, selfish, and kind of cartoony for the past eight episodes.
Does anyone else get the feeling that what we're watching right now is what the scriptwriter originally wanted to convey with this story? I'm imagining the scriptwriter going to the broadcasting executives with the pitch, and the execs basically telling her to make it a more light-hearted fare. Which would be the first six episodes or so. And then once the execs realized how poorly it was being received, they gave the scriptwriter the green light to proceed with the original style. I don't know---the writing just seems more assured to me than it has been previously, which makes me think that something happened to boost the confidence of the scriptwriter. Even back when the show was a bit fluffier, there were some areas that could have been explored more deeply to provide more emotional resonance in this later stage, such as the relationship between the brothers and how the death of their parents affected that. I think therein lies the key to Sang Hee being coddled, as jeanie put it. If the show had explored that a bit more, we might have a better notion of what's going on with Sang Hee and why everyone tip-toes around the boy, but that's something the show initially shied away from, probably because it didn't really fit with the overall mood. Now that the show is a bit more serious, I hope they make room to explore that part of Ki Joon and Sang Hee's life, if it's not too late.
While patiently waiting for ep 10 to be subbed I just had to lay down a few thoughts for ep 9.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
I was anxiously waiting for this episode and it turned out VERY disappointing except for a few scenes.
The first one is when Ah Jung cuts her own hair. Even though I do not dig the way it looks now (whyyy I just had my hair cut the same way! *cries*), this strong scene carried a deep symbolism. Many Amerindian tribes think your hair is like the flow of thought and by cutting it, you actually severe away past thoughts from future deeds which often translates the act as taking "a new beginning". By doing so, Ah Jung clearly expresses her will to get over Gi Joon and move on. (which, from the next episode preview, will not exactly work ah ah)
The second one is when she cries in her dad's arms pouring out sad thoughts. I wasn't exactly connected back to her character yet since it was pretty early in the episode, but she still managed to draw a few tears from me! I found her extremely touching and can only praise YEH brillant acting once again. The father passing by at this very hour in this very place was kind of cliché though, but it was still better than putting Sang Hee or Gi Joon magically pop over there.
The third one is the dinner between Soo Ran and her husband. I actually start to empathize with her character. She's not as shallow as she appeared to be in the first place and seeing her containing her emotions while facing her husband actually made me sad for her. When he asked her "If I were better than Gi Joon, would you still be like this to me?" showed a profound malaise in their relationship. He always tries to please her, and in return she always demands for more as a way to hide her insecurity and lack of self-confidence. She lures herself into thinking she's the perfect model of successful marriage, but deep down inside she knows it's just an act, resulting in her husband cheating on her. When you put it all together, this couple tackles the theme of LIE under a total different aspect, dare I say more mature than our main characters' relationship.
Other than that, the whole "bump into each other at every corner of the country" was over the top! The fall in the woods was lame (and I even caught a blooper: when she wakes up, you notice she has her cellphone in her left hand for a brief frame and the next frame, she's looking for it in the dead leaves next to her!) and the search in the woods was ridiculous as well. When you split, don't do it over a range of 3m², ok? They were all visible in one frame shouting for her name... that was borderline hilarious!
Random 1: The blind date scene had me cringe.
Random 2: I hate Yoon Juu for being so spoilt and self-centered.
Random 3: Sang Hee throwing a b-day party to himself is win.
Unlike many people here, I did see Sang Hee's romantic feelings coming from the very first episode. Remember he is the first to meet Ah Jung in the club, after rejecting that "oppa oppa" annoying girl, right? At that time, he even said he found her interesting, as in "different" from all the other girls he knows. Since then, he never stopped to act playfully around her - which clearly appeared like a form of seduction to me, but who am I to fall for that? ah ah - and even set on being her "fairy godmother" in order to get closer to her. If not, why else? He has a playboy reputation afterall. Well that, until big brother reveals they're siblings, half-killing Ah Jung's trust in him and kind of pushing him in the background.
Another concrete exemple of his feelings for Ah Jung is when he finds her in his brother's home cleaning the mess of the housewarming party. In my opinion, he acted angry for two reasons:
1) He realizes Ah Jung is falling for his brother: he does not appreciate Gi Joon toying with her feelings AND this was not supposed to happen in his whole "fairy godmother plan"
2) Gi Joon is supposed to have Yoon Juu back: Sang Hee highly regards Yoon Juu and does not approve his brother to flirt with another woman when he thinks she is not the one he truely loves
Overall, I was expecting this episode to develop heavy angst and not predictable silly forest situations. The preview of ep. 10 revealed the aunt's final plan to marry Yoon Juu with Gi Joon (obviously, what else?). From here on, I don't know what to think of this new story arc. I just hope this won't be dragged until the end all the while hurting Sang Hee once again in the process.
(sorry for the wordy post ha ha)
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
I was anxiously waiting for this episode and it turned out VERY disappointing except for a few scenes.
The first one is when Ah Jung cuts her own hair. Even though I do not dig the way it looks now (whyyy I just had my hair cut the same way! *cries*), this strong scene carried a deep symbolism. Many Amerindian tribes think your hair is like the flow of thought and by cutting it, you actually severe away past thoughts from future deeds which often translates the act as taking "a new beginning". By doing so, Ah Jung clearly expresses her will to get over Gi Joon and move on. (which, from the next episode preview, will not exactly work ah ah)
The second one is when she cries in her dad's arms pouring out sad thoughts. I wasn't exactly connected back to her character yet since it was pretty early in the episode, but she still managed to draw a few tears from me! I found her extremely touching and can only praise YEH brillant acting once again. The father passing by at this very hour in this very place was kind of cliché though, but it was still better than putting Sang Hee or Gi Joon magically pop over there.
The third one is the dinner between Soo Ran and her husband. I actually start to empathize with her character. She's not as shallow as she appeared to be in the first place and seeing her containing her emotions while facing her husband actually made me sad for her. When he asked her "If I were better than Gi Joon, would you still be like this to me?" showed a profound malaise in their relationship. He always tries to please her, and in return she always demands for more as a way to hide her insecurity and lack of self-confidence. She lures herself into thinking she's the perfect model of successful marriage, but deep down inside she knows it's just an act, resulting in her husband cheating on her. When you put it all together, this couple tackles the theme of LIE under a total different aspect, dare I say more mature than our main characters' relationship.
Other than that, the whole "bump into each other at every corner of the country" was over the top! The fall in the woods was lame (and I even caught a blooper: when she wakes up, you notice she has her cellphone in her left hand for a brief frame and the next frame, she's looking for it in the dead leaves next to her!) and the search in the woods was ridiculous as well. When you split, don't do it over a range of 3m², ok? They were all visible in one frame shouting for her name... that was borderline hilarious!
Random 1: The blind date scene had me cringe.
Random 2: I hate Yoon Juu for being so spoilt and self-centered.
Random 3: Sang Hee throwing a b-day party to himself is win.
Unlike many people here, I did see Sang Hee's romantic feelings coming from the very first episode. Remember he is the first to meet Ah Jung in the club, after rejecting that "oppa oppa" annoying girl, right? At that time, he even said he found her interesting, as in "different" from all the other girls he knows. Since then, he never stopped to act playfully around her - which clearly appeared like a form of seduction to me, but who am I to fall for that? ah ah - and even set on being her "fairy godmother" in order to get closer to her. If not, why else? He has a playboy reputation afterall. Well that, until big brother reveals they're siblings, half-killing Ah Jung's trust in him and kind of pushing him in the background.
Another concrete exemple of his feelings for Ah Jung is when he finds her in his brother's home cleaning the mess of the housewarming party. In my opinion, he acted angry for two reasons:
1) He realizes Ah Jung is falling for his brother: he does not appreciate Gi Joon toying with her feelings AND this was not supposed to happen in his whole "fairy godmother plan"
2) Gi Joon is supposed to have Yoon Juu back: Sang Hee highly regards Yoon Juu and does not approve his brother to flirt with another woman when he thinks she is not the one he truely loves
Overall, I was expecting this episode to develop heavy angst and not predictable silly forest situations. The preview of ep. 10 revealed the aunt's final plan to marry Yoon Juu with Gi Joon (obviously, what else?). From here on, I don't know what to think of this new story arc. I just hope this won't be dragged until the end all the while hurting Sang Hee once again in the process.
(sorry for the wordy post ha ha)
I forgot to add, when Sang Hee meets Ah Jung for the second time, he says "it's destiny". If that's not a hint for you...
Honestly, I had the feeling she confronted him to confirm the marriage lie, not to salvage Ah Jung's pride. To me, her "new" character doesn't come out of nowhere. She was insecure and hid herself behind this cartoony face and manners until her marriage falls apart and Ah Jung reveals the lie. Now that they all dropped their masks, she is able to reveal her true (and sad) self.
wrote: Really, I'm just going to go with the flow here, since the drama itself has made a sudden shift in tone and direction. Other characters too have suffered from this: as much as I like the upgraded So Ran v.2.0, her confrontation with Ki Joon in which she tries to salvage Ah Jung's pride also came out of the blue, not being something one would expect from a character who was portrayed as so immature, selfish, and kind of cartoony for the past eight episodes.
Honestly, I had the feeling she confronted him to confirm the marriage lie, not to salvage Ah Jung's pride. To me, her "new" character doesn't come out of nowhere. She was insecure and hid herself behind this cartoony face and manners until her marriage falls apart and Ah Jung reveals the lie. Now that they all dropped their masks, she is able to reveal her true (and sad) self.
MatsuJunFan wrote: Honestly, I had the feeling she confronted him to confirm the marriage lie, not to salvage Ah Jung's pride. To me, her "new" character doesn't come out of nowhere. She was insecure and hid herself behind this cartoony face and manners until her marriage falls apart and Ah Jung reveals the lie. Now that they all dropped their masks, she is able to reveal her true (and sad) self.
I think she did initially intend to confront him to confirm whether or not the marriage was a sham, but the conversation quickly turned to So Ran accusing him of toying with Ah Jung, causing her to fall for him and making her look like an idiot in front of her friends, so she did in the end come to Ah Jung's defense. That's here I was a bit confused by the new So Ran. I guess one could argue that So Ran wasn't angry at Ki Joon for Ah Jung's sake, but for her own---that after seeing Ki Joon looking all chummy with Yoon Joo, So Ran let loose at Ki Joon some more of the anger she had stored up against her cheating husband. Why lash out at Ki Joon, but take Ah Jung's admission so calmy? Especially since it seemed to me that most of the tension that we've seen in So Ran's marriage came from her senseless need to compete with Ah Jung. Granted, they seemed to be having problems before the Lie, but the competition between the two women seemed to have exacerbated what was already a problem in her marriage. Maybe she's just resigned at this point? I don't even know... It still feels too abrupt, but like I said, I'm not going to bother with it. Going with the flow over here.
Cicearroreoro wrote: The first one is when Ah Jung cuts her own hair. Even though I do not dig the way it looks now (whyyy I just had my hair cut the same way! *cries*), this strong scene carried a deep symbolism. Many Amerindian tribes think your hair is like the flow of thought and by cutting it, you actually severe away past thoughts from future deeds which often translates the act as taking "a new beginning". By doing so, Ah Jung clearly expresses her will to get over Gi Joon and move on. (which, from the next episode preview, will not exactly work ah ah)
And this is interesting! Honestly, it's such a cliche both in films/television shows and real life to have the woman cut her hair after a break up that I never bothered to consider that it might have some actual meaning. I was actually annoyed that she cut her hair, hehe. When I recently chopped off my hair, everyone asked me if I had broken up with my boyfriend, so seeing Ah Jung do it made me roll my eyes. Now I know where the whole hair cutting/bad memories connection stems from! You guys are chock full of information! :D
kayla2216 wrote: And this is interesting! Honestly, it's such a cliche both in films/television shows and real life to have the woman cut her hair after a break up that I never bothered to consider that it might have some actual meaning. I was actually annoyed that she cut her hair, hehe. When I recently chopped off my hair, everyone asked me if I had broken up with my boyfriend, so seeing Ah Jung do it made me roll my eyes. Now I know where the whole hair cutting/bad memories connection stems from! You guys are chock full of information! :D
Actually about the cutting hair after break up subject, it's known in various cultures.
At first, i thought it's a stupid thing to do: what's the connection between hair and feelings.
But, one day i tried it and for my surprise it conferted me a lot: i was feeling very heavy at that time but after cutting my hair i felt all this heaviness fly away bit by bit, if you know what i mean and it gave me a frech feeling.
Clothrgl
wrote: Watching Ep 10 raw..at my desk. (yeah, I know, I know) anyway...
I AM OFFICIALLY IN LOVE WITH MANAGER PARK. I LOVE HER. She kicks arse. That is all....
For the longest time, I've been wondering what the heck Manager Park's role is in all of this. At the beginning, I thought she would be the second lead, but now I know---her role is to be the embodiment of Ki Joon's Common Sense. Because he sure doesn't have any. I'd also like to amend what I said about the writer being more assured. Let me change that to: she is assuredly insane. Let this be a lesson to me to be more sparing with compliments. (Seriously, she needs to put away her DVDs of My Name is Kim Sam Soon. I think it was susu who made the comparison, and I totally agree.)
storyaboutagirl wrote: For the longest time, I've been wondering what the heck Manager Park's role is in all of this. At the beginning, I thought she would be the second lead, but now I know---her role is to be the embodiment of Ki Joon's Common Sense. Because he sure doesn't have any. I'd also like to amend what I said about the writer being more assured. Let me change that to: she is assuredly insane. Let this be a lesson to me to be more sparing with compliments. (Seriously, she needs to put away her DVDs of My Name is Kim Sam Soon. I think it was susu who made the comparison, and I totally agree.)
I'm missing the Kim Sam Soon comparisons everyone is making. I don't see it?? I don't think Ah Jung is like Sam Soon at all and I don't think Ki Joon is like "Sam Shikah!" (I have to say it like that) The story is completely different and admittedly not as good. How is this like Kim Sam Soon?
Spakenan wrote: I'm missing the Kim Sam Soon comparisons everyone is making. I don't see it?? I don't think Ah Jung is like Sam Soon at all and I don't think Ki Joon is like "Sam Shikah!" (I have to say it like that) The story is completely different and admittedly not as good. How is this like Kim Sam Soon?
It's not the drama as a whole; rather, just some small similarities. I have to admit that the dramas I've seen are very few, so how prominent those elements are in other dramas I don't know. But I started getting Sam Soon vibes with Yoon Joo, the love that returns to Korea from abroad expecting Korea to have experienced a time freeze while she was gone. Every scene she's in, I'm expecting Daniel Henney to pop up to deliver some constipated acting. And the blind date scene was borderline Sam Soon/Sam Shik; I'm glad she went with a slight twist. They're totally superficial comparisons--I know. But, like I said, my drama experience is limited, and the only drama I've seen with similar elements to LTM is Sam Soon, so that's where I go.
I have to agree with Susu and BoredandTwitchy <= please, tell me there is a shortened version of your nick that would please you and be a little easier to type? LOL
I too felt more than once the Kim Sam Soon's vibe. True, they are two very different dramas in many respects, and the comparison is not on a quality level, but some details truly seem to point at it, and purposedly so. Those already mentioned by Bored... are the most notable ones, but also Ah Jung desperate confession, her being very far from the perfect heroine with pretty teardrops, his indecision between the old love and the new interest, the aunt (there it was.... what, the grandmother?) being against the union because she fears it may hurt those involved. Little details that, without even knowing of other having made the same comparison, came to my mind while watching.
But then again, comparisons are always arguable and most of the time a little far-fetched. :D
I too felt more than once the Kim Sam Soon's vibe. True, they are two very different dramas in many respects, and the comparison is not on a quality level, but some details truly seem to point at it, and purposedly so. Those already mentioned by Bored... are the most notable ones, but also Ah Jung desperate confession, her being very far from the perfect heroine with pretty teardrops, his indecision between the old love and the new interest, the aunt (there it was.... what, the grandmother?) being against the union because she fears it may hurt those involved. Little details that, without even knowing of other having made the same comparison, came to my mind while watching.
But then again, comparisons are always arguable and most of the time a little far-fetched. :D
KeniErronsibe wrote: I have to agree with Susu and BoredandTwitchy <= please, tell me there is a shortened version of your nick that would please you and be a little easier to type? LOL
Hahaha, I have a problem with unwieldy names, even in real life. Whenever I introduce myself, I'm always amused by the look of panic on the other person's face before I say, "But everyone calls me---." So far, most MDLers have shortened my nick to BaT, so let's go with that, hehe.
I saw the little brother loving Ah Jung from practically episode one and have been rooting for them, but Kdrama always has the girl falling for the 'wrong' guy. If I had a guy that nice and dropping hints as blunt and obvious as anvils I would jump him! Especially with that great personality and him being hot enough to fry eggs on in winter though his hot rating went down proportionally to the length of his hair. Why did he cut his hair? *sob* Yes, hair, long, shaggy hair is important XD
jenny857105 wrote: I saw the little brother loving Ah Jung from practically episode one and have been rooting for them, but Kdrama always has the girl falling for the 'wrong' guy. If I had a guy that nice and dropping hints as blunt and obvious as anvils I would jump him! Especially with that great personality and him being hot enough to fry eggs on in winter though his hot rating went down proportionally to the length of his hair. Why did he cut his hair? *sob* Yes, hair, long, shaggy hair is important XD
I don't know of one single person in this world who has fallen for someone because he or she was "right", or because s/he's good, good-looking and nice, the perfect by-the-book partner and voilà . The only exception being combined marriages, where the logic of the match overrules the feelings involved.
One falls for someone without a reason, except maybe the chemical reason, but this sounds so very unromantic albeit very true, I fear to mention it on a drama site.
Therefore, although Korean dramas are truly specialized in portraying the seemingly perfect second man, in real life he wouldn't stand a lot more chances to get the girl only because he's nice.
And this drama is no exception. Yes he's good-looking, yes he's nice, yes he treats her well, yes he's a great guy but he's perfect partner material for someone else, not for Ah Jung (for you, perhaps *winks*). They are too similar, they could be brother and sister, or best friends. But she doesn't love him, and that's it. No amount of perfection is ever going to change this.
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