Eleison

Yes, they do NOT treat horses properly in Cdramas, and it's across the board. Honestly, it makes me wonder how they treat their actors, too. Are their labors laws for actors behind the rest of the developed world's laws like their animal cruelty in film laws are behind? It does make me wonder...

The way he told her parents was GREAT. Sweet justice. 😏

Also, I think this drama has 15-20 minutes worth of footage of artsy Shanghai cityscape. 😂

Yu Tu: "I need to quit my life-long passion for "the galaxy" and move into boring, lucrative finance since I don't make enough money to support my parents financially as they age."

Also Yu Tu: "I will dish out half my monthly salary to protect my new girlfriend's image that might have leaked ONE TIME and to keep our relationship a secret."

😂😂😂

Love really does put things in a new light. 😉

I think it's hilarious, because he's very caricatured (that montage about his rankings at the beginning paired with the music in Episode 1 had me cackling). The emphasis for our focus is on his dogged determination, not on the fact that he never improves (that's for us to get a kick out of as it's played for laughs). 😉

I don't think it's supposed to be super serious, either. He's a cartoon; a product of webtoon fiction and he just cannot be replicated in the real world.

Well, external beauty has nothing to do with goodness. 😉 Sometimes it's a good reminder since we tend to give beautiful people a pass. 😏

They're definitely making a point of not showing him to us! I'm curious to see who it will be. 😏

Right? It's weird to think about, but the ability to code switch actually has a lot more to do with upbringing and privilege than I would have thought. 🤔 That realization kind of makes me sad! 😳

Ah, I see! I guess what I meant was that because it aired on TVN and wasn't directly made by/for Netflix to be streamed there exclusively (like The Trunk or My Name, for instance), it would still be subject to censorship as it would air on a Korean network, while Netflix originals are not.

I notice the censored dramas tend to feel more like traditional Kdramas (in general, more wholesome, unrealistic or idealistic), and uncensored dramas feel more like western TV shows but which are set in Korea with Korean actors and a 12 to 16 Episode format that mimics the Kdrama. Even dramas released by Korean OTT platforms tend to feel more traditional (e.g. Study Group) than what Western companies produce (Netflix, Disney +, Hulu, Amazon), in general (and from my limited experience).

This drama feels like a Kdrama to me more than a Netflix original, minus that part in the first three episodes. That said, traditional dramas aired on Korean networks (e.g. like Itaewon Class, Search: WWW) will periodically get preachy about social justice issues/talking points so some Kdramas do get more political and preachy periodically or lean into content that rarely shows up in traditional dramas but is much more common in a Netflix original (i.e. explicit sex scenes, morally grey MLs, embracing controversial takes on hot button social issues, etc.).

That said, Kdramas are getting quite big globally, so I think the meaning of "Kdrama" is certainly expanding. It makes me a tad bit sad, and it also means I have to do better research than previously before I start a drama because I can't predict what I'll see most of the time anymore, unlike a few years ago. I love the formulaic nature of the Kdrama (which I think is slowly going away, sadly!).

I think it aired on TVN and Netflix just has the rights to continue airing it? It's not a Netflix original.

I think it aired on TVN originally, and Netflix just had/has the rights to continue airing it? It's not a Netflix original.

That's another possibility!

And he has a nice voice, too; it's easy on the ears, and he doesn't have just one expression like a lot of idol actors tend to have. 😅 Dare I say he has even more nuance in his facial expressions than Mi Hyun? 😬 (Will people murder for that? 😅)

You won't have long to wait if you don't want to start until you can hear about the ending. We're pretty much halfway through already.

True, love the lighter tone of this compared to WKC1. It's what I was missing, along with some actually responsible adults/police in this one.

WHC1 had this dark tone which gave it that grittiness usually associated with realism in movies/TV, but to me that made it more unrealistic; so much was going down, SERIOUS stuff, and no one seemed to care about it.

All I know is that the there's no way the faraway "high school" shot that is supposed to be the school is actually a high school. It looks like a University, MAYBE, or a hotel or big government building but no way that building is a high school.

Agreed!

He's the gangster who did the gang "soldier reserve" test and got Jun beat up. His character name is in the guest role list as "organization member."

Yes, true! Kinda similar to the writing in New Life Begins.

Also, they even gave Kim Min's character cauliflower (boxer) ears, like the UFC fighters and boxers will have.

And Episode 4 had the only intelligent "push someone out of the way of the car" sequence that I've ever seen in a Kdrama. 😅

Lee Jong Hyun (Se Hyeon) literally has Study Group as his only drama or film listing under his name on MDL. Wow! Can't believe he's so new to this, cause he's rocking it.