AsleepWatcher

The biggest mistake the creators made was forgetting to write interesting characters.

Gi-hun, despite being the "good-hearted" protagonist, has always been a bit of a bumbling idiot. In season 2, he doesn't have a smart friend to help him. We simply watch the bumbling idiot be played by 001 AGAIN. He never learns from his mistakes and is just frustrating to follow. Sang-woo from season 1 was a morally grey character but rational and level-headed, and was undoubtedly a competent leader for most of the show. His character was the perfect contrast to Gi-hun. This season lacked someone like that -- Lee Byung-hun's character is predictable and wasn't as interesting as he was.

The "villains" like the thug and annoying lady from S1 were despicable yet entertaining and somehow likeable. That was not easy to pull off. But Big Bang's TOP and other antagonistic characters here were just annoying himbos that I wanted off my screen. Meanwhile, almost all other characters are remarkably un-memorable. It's funny how characters played by actors that are usually main leads were underwhelming and didn't need to be in this show. I probably would have preferred seeing fresh faces.

It was deeply disappointing how S2 slowed down the pace but had much less depth and emotion. S1 touched on issues like exploitation of foreign workers, North Korean defectors, gambling addiction, etc. S2 settled with young people who invested in the wrong cryptocurrencies (too bad for them), influencers (ughh), or pregnant young moms (generic female character found in too many shows). Some were almost like a re-hashes of S1's characters. Also, there were not enough games and too many voting sessions. Did no one in the production feel that it was getting repetitive?? Overall, I give season 2 a mediocre 6/10. (Season 1 was an 8.5/10 for me.)

Chill, it's a joke lol.

Ju Jihoon is having the easiest job here. 80% of the time he's chilling in a shop with cool sunglasses, having a coffee, saying the same lines over and over ("What are you here for?", "You're not supposed to touch that"). And he probably gets a fat paycheck for this. Lmao.

The rating is definitely heading to the 6+ range...

She didn't write WTWIF, she adapted the original novel into the drama. So Dear Hyeri is the writer's first full drama where she wrote the screenplay from scratch.

Well, as consolation, at least people have strong feelings towards the drama. It successfully got people talking. Some dramas have zero points for discussion and end up being forgotten a week after finishing their runs 😂

Looking at the comments, I won't be surprised if the MDL rating eventually drops to the 6+ range.

There were some illogical parts but this was the most eventful and entertaining episode in a while. Tbh, I can understand both sides of the argument, but the negativity is a little too much atp. This couple does consist of 2 broken people and was on the unhealthy side, but I don't think the relationship is unsalvageable. I would love to see someone play devil's advocate in this sea of hate.

Dramas "where ML had a painful past and hidden scars" are basically 90% of kdramas, no?

That is actually hilarious 😂

This drama isn't on any OTT in SK, but it's available on an IPTV where people can pay to watch ahead. So I guess it's those who watched the final eps who have been screaming (at the writer lol).

Joo Hye Ri spelled backwards.

Despite the mixed reception, Dear Hyeri is apparently now the 2nd most buzzworthy ENA drama of all time (after Extraordinary Attorney Woo). Though most of the online buzz appears to come from koreans flaming the ML and their bewilderment at the story's development, lmao. Maybe this was the producers' intention all along 🥴

Good catch. She hates him making professional sacrifices for her because she knows his dream is to let his mother see him in the news. She really resonated with this as someone who lost her parents herself. She also knew what it took for him to get to his position, working from bottom up like running unreasonable errands for the chief, taking early morning slots etc, things that everyone else were never willing to do. That's also why she was especially agitated that Jeon Jaeyong who easily clinched the 9pm slot, got good feedback for his broadcast.

I might be the one you saw talking about red and yellow. That's why I also write my insights in the reddit discussions, so they don't get lost in a sea of comments. Link to comment here: https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/1fsz29l/comment/lq3lx77/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I also saw another interpretation by a korean fan on twitter. They said red/yellow represent which identity the people around Eunho perceive her to be. When people see her as Eunho, there are red objects in the background. Likewise, yellow for Hyeri. I think that might make more sense than my theory. Thankfully I bookmarked that tweet lol. https://x.com/sz_rookie/status/1841131594343727401

When Eunho was telling the truth to Juyeon in the cafe in episode 7, there was a yellow structure behind her from JY's POV. That might be suggesting that JY still chooses to see her as Hyeri for now. The flowers you mentioned are very intentionally placed so I expect them to have some hidden meaning too.

I agree to some extent, because I sometimes get irked by actors' underwhelming singing in musical films. But I think this is a bit of a tricky situation for KTR. The webtoon author wrote the FL based on her character in The Handmaiden, so it was kind of expected that she would take the role. In fact, people probably would have got upset if she didn't.

But KTR herself has talked about how she isn't that vocally talented and spent 3 years practicing pansori. 3 years is a huge dedication but nowhere near enough to get to an actual professional's level, and nor can practice replicate an actual gifted voice. You have to be born with it. I didn't find her voice that amazing either, but it sounded pleasant. Getting to that level as a non-professional is still commendable imo. And sometimes, post-production like autotune actually ruins the experience rather than enhancing it. Maybe we can lower our standards a little, since this is a TV drama and not some blockbuster Hollywood film lol.

I never read the webtoon, but this seems to be mainly an underdog growth story so I'm expecting most of it to take place when the FL is a young girl rising to stardom. It's called "A Star is Born", so I don't think it's going to delve that much into her actually being a star. This show is objectively well made so far but I don't think I'm part of the target audience either. The comic also seems to be more catered to younger (female) readers.

I still remember the initial synopsis for this drama. It was something along the lines of "Joo Eunho suffers from DID. As she exchanges emotions with 2 men, she faces her own wounds. "

What we got instead (so far): Joo Eunho suffers from DID. As she exchanges emotions with 2 men, her ex-boyfriend keeps inflicting wounds on her and she unknowingly hurts her second personality's boyfriend and gets hurt by him as well. She REALLY needs to stay away from these men and face her wounds by herself, together with her psychiatrist. LMAO.

Well, all of these characters are flawed. Just like how her Hyeri personality also forced a kiss on 2ML (it is hinted that she "learned" this behaviour from MJO).

Oh damn I didn't realize you haven't watched this lol. I don't think the teasers are really misleading. The FL just has pretty messy relationships because of her mental state which is what they implied.

She only kissed MJO in the first episode lol... Or more like he kissed her without really asking.