~~Unpopular Opinions about Kdramas ~~

I really wanted to like Because This Is My First Life just like everyone said I would, but for some reason I couldn't get onboard with this drama. The female lead irked me for some reason (I really hate 'woe is me, I'm always the victim' type characters) and the drama tried to be a lot deeper than it actually was. I found the whole thing rather pretentious. Moreover when they introduced the love triangle, that was it  ... dropped after 6 eps. 

Another popular drama that I'm currently watching, but that's boring me to absolute tears ...    I Am Not A Robot. Ugh! Until the leads get together - which is the only purpose of the drama - absolutely NOTHING is going for this drama. If I don't drop it anytime soon, it's probably gonna take me a century to finish it.

Oh boy, this is going to be quite a rant.

I recently checked out Empress Ki and managed to get almost halfway before having to drop it. I absolutely could not stand Ji Chang Wook's character. Honestly, I feel like the only thing he had going for him was that he was depicted by JCW. Had he been acted by someone, I don't know, less attractive I doubt that people would have liked the character as much. I get that he's one of those characters that starts out immature and weak and develops to be a stronger and better character but no matter how much I tried I couldn't like him. In fact, I liked him more in the beginning when he didn't have feelings for Nyang. Their friendship before he took the role of Emperor was cute and I could have gotten behind them as a bromance but once he developed feelings for her I feel as though it wasn't love, rather it was more dependence and need than anything else. The things like having her wash his face and read to him didn't seem romantic at all to me, rather it seemed more parental/platonic(?) than anything. 

Maybe this changed later on but after I read a synopsis on everything that happened later in the show I wanted to pick the drama up again even less. I'm not much of a fan of the 'lead female gives up on her first love in order to get revenge' trope finding out about everything that happened in the latter half just left a really bad taste in my mouth. The only thing that mildly interested me regarding it was the Tal Tal storyline and his 'romance' with Nyang.

Since this is unpopular opinions:

I kinda liked The Great Seducer for what it was worth. I judge dramas based off of overall enjoyment. Many disliked this drama because of how "toxic" the characters and the relationships were. Most don't understand that's exactly what the writers were going for and had planned for since the beginning. It's based off the original French novel titled "Les Liaisons dangereuses" by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It deals with lots of heavy topics and brings attention to the dark elements of human nature. 

Yes, the relationships were toxic because they were supposed to be portrayed that way.

I prefer analyzing and appreciating how the cast has captured the dynamics of such an unhealthy relationship rather than continuing to watch the same boring beautiful faces with little to no plot but the love between two characters. It's cheesy and hard to swallow over and over.

Furthermore, it dealt with mental illness. Soo Ji was on psychiatric meds which she stumbled upon from her own mothers collection. This she mixed with alcohol and would frequently have maniac episodes. She took it for anxiety and depression. Anxiety medication is highly dangerous and yet it is one of the most overlooked. As they say, take a benzo and you might become relaxed but  take it with alcohol and you might become so relaxed you stop breathing. I feel like this show gave attention to that. I mean, let's remember the ending, how Soo Ji ended up in the hospital. It's no surprise that she woke up in that white room hooked up to machines due to her attempt at suicide with the anti-anxiety drugs downed with painkillers.

Self-harm is another topic this show discussed.

This is becoming a trash rant so I'd rather save it for a blog.

 PrettyCarEye:

If I remembered correctly the ex-finance either didn't actually go to prison OR if he did go to prison it was because he was indeed guilty? Point is, I don't remember the ML doing anything so horrendous that he can't be forgiven. I remember he created an untenable situation that he never anticipated, but he apologized and atoned for it. Or am I completely remembering everything entirely wrong?

IIRC  (hopefully) the ex-fiancé was forced to end his relationship with FL because his company went bankrupt and he was about to go to prison. Though the ML didn't directly cause the bankruptcy (I remember an old man being the actual culprit, in the end), his actions had the purpose to get revenge over him and he basically ruined his life,  believing he was the fiancé of "his" OHY. Consequentially, he inadvertently ruined FL's life too at that moment, since her fiancé had to broke up with her. When ML found out there were 2 OHY and that he took revenge against the "wrong fiancé", the damage was already done.  Yes, he felt guilty. But, from my point of view, that wasn't enough. I know many people loved that he tried to atone and that he felt guilty and that he fell in love with the FL. I didn't, at all. I definitively was on the ex-fiancé's side. 

In the end, I didn't sympathise either with the FL (I should write a chapter about her, but I won't) nor the ML and for the first (and only) time in my life, I found myself rooting for a secondary character, which of course couldn't "win": he was not the main character.  for all the aforementioned reasons, IMO something was off in the way that drama is written, which is the reason why I don't like it and never watch it again. 

 Zardua_:

- Despite knowing a drama will be touching and fantastically made, I won't even consider it if it has a sad ending.
- I dropped It's Okay, That's Love... I just didn't like it that much, it wasn't bad but it wasn't my type of drama at all 
- I also never finished goblin, despite my love for Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun, I just got bored with it 

Same

 PrettyCarEye:

@Linus, that would the opposite for me ... if he could act (which he mos def can not), his looks would, and does, distract me from it alright, but not for the reason you suggest ... I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I find him hideous to look at. All those botched plastic surgeries.The guy's nose looks like it's plastered onto his face and his lips are pumped with collagen. I can't take him seriously with a face like that. I do apologize to his fans, but it is what it is.

I also agree 100% with you. I legit don't see the appeal of this guy whats-so-ever. He looks like an Asian Ken Doll- and that is NOT a compliment. Coupled with the poor acting, I'm just lost at how he can still get work. He is one of those few actors I stay away from.

i care more about the story than the cast(s)