ArvisJaggamar

You thought the first two episodes were REALISTIC!? O____O

Wife and I had completely opposite reaction from yours: after we watched Episode 3 we said "That was the best episode so far" and then we said it again after Episode 4. And from there we were hooked. It was Episodes 1 and 2 that made us want to drop the show.

Looking at all the comments, you're VERY MUCH not alone in your shipping. :P

Count me among the Hoon/Soo Hyun shipping horde as well. Disappointed, but with everyone happy in the end, I can't help but be happy too.

Yeah, because of the "Under 8" score I kept waiting for the show to disappoint me and, y'know, it never really did. I gave it a 9.5. Would have been a 10 if the main romance was developed better. Really have no complaints about the acting, story, production values... any of it.

Gotta say, I might be slightly in love with Kang Sora after watching this.

Yeah, i completed this finally and I'm with you all the way. But I think I figured out why we don't like Jae Hee...

In a romance, we want to see people being happy together. Park Hoon and Oh Soo Hyun flirt and joke and enjoy being around each other. When that happens, WE SHIP! On the other hand, Hoon and Jae Hee are NEVER happy together! You see them happy together for like 10 minutes of show, and then you spend the next 19 hours not trusting or believing anything they say to each other. And they always seem sad and miserable together.
So when you've got Soo Hyun right there who is so beautiful and caring and doesn't have any of the heavy baggage that Jae Hee brings, you start to think "Man, Park Hoon should really just spend his time with her and be happy."

I think that's where the show did a bad job: they failed to make us appreciate the context of Hoon and Jae Hee's love. They're just like "They're childhood sweethearts and that should be enough for you!" But it's not enough. And unfortunately for the showrunners, Lee Jong Suk and Kang Sora happened to have quite a lot of chemistry together.
I DO think they did a good job of bringing the audience "into" the Hoon/Jae Hee relationship by the end, though. But that was too-little-too-late, I think.

Still loved the show, though, and am now on the Kang Sora bandwagon.

On episode 19 and I can't take it anymore: sorry Chang Yi, you're adorable, but Oh Soo Hyun has my heart completely. To borrow anime parlance, her "ultra-tsundere-ness" has completely won me over.
And... you know... she's just so darn earnest and lovely and likable... oy...

You may as well drop this now. If this is how you feel already, then don't waste another minute of your life on it. It only gets worse.

Guess I'll stay away from historical dramas, then? I have nowhere to go but down now... :(

I'm a Chang Yi fan, but Soo Hyun is winning me over. Really anyone other than Jae Hee would be great at this point (only on episode 10). Chang Yi and Soo Hyun are both amazing. I usually have one clear favorite in this kind of "harem" situation, but both women are very strong, relatable, and likable. Hard to pick a favorite between the two, and both make Jae Hee look like a crap choice.

Well, alexk345, according to your list (link: http://mydramalist.com/dramalist/alexk345 ) you have only completed two dramas, and neither of them are "Fated to Love You" or "Tree With Deep Roots"! HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT!?

For serious: a lot of male leads in dramas scream a lot. Korean men seem to have to scream to show they're serious.
Joo Sang Wook LOVED to scream the last word of every line in "Good Doctor". Lee Jong Suk is screaming all over the place in "Doctor Stranger". Both of those guys are well regarded kdrama stars.

Seems to me like "screaming" isn't really a valid criterion by which to criticize an actor.

To be fair, this drama outshines EVERYTHING.

LOL, well said. I loved it despite all that. Or maybe BECAUSE of all that? I think the character of Lee Gun was incredibly interesting; the dichotomy of all his various disparate personality characteristics made him seem really real and believable, despite the unbelievable situations in the plot. And Kim Mi Young was the sweetest, most likable person I have ever seen in anything. Those two make it all work.

This was a 9/10 right up until the end. Now it's an 8/10. Still definitely worth watching, but there are more satisfying dramas out there.

OHHHHH man, the grocery store scene! My wife and I could barely breathe because the laughs were coming so quickly, one after the other...

http://38.media.tumblr.com/125bb71515d509c868d78b588bea2477/tumblr_nd4nhdpMEa1shr76co1_400.gif

I'm surprised there aren't a lot more comments here. This isn't my personal favorite drama (it's my second-favorite) but I think, objectively, it's probably the best one. The cinematography, scripts, and acting were all of a higher standard than every other drama I have watched. But strangely, it doesn't seem like too many of you Kdrama Addicts have seen it. Or, at least, seen it and feel the need to express yourselves about it.

I see a few people saying that they preferred the Taiwanese version of this. Well, I did some research and you know who else preferred the Taiwanese version? Hitler. You don't want to be like Hitler, do you? Be smart and stick with this version.

Were you two watching the same show I was?

It gets WAY better. Those first few episodes were really rough and my wife almost quit the show. But the bloodshed and torture almost completely disappear as you go (and then come back briefly in smaller amounts toward the end). It's kind of an important part of the storytelling, though.

It DOES have funny moments, but they are few.

She's pretty much everything you're describing, man. I can't imagine anyone not liking her in this. She's fantastic.