Eleison

Oh, happy news!

I continue to be surprised at how often Kdramas portray characters who feel trapped in their lives or jobs. It's a recurring theme, and has been for a while. I don't know how much of it is just the setting that allows for dramatic stories to be told, or if that's an actual feeling many real people in Korea actually have.

As an American, I struggle to fathom that feeling of being so intensely trapped without options. There are always other jobs, other opportunities, other education options that you can pursue; you don't have to put up with crap like I see in dramas a lot, so... I just wonder. How much of that is real? 😳

Oh, yay!! Thanks for the heads up. :) You're in the U.S.?

Welcome to Kdrama romcoms 😉

I feel like the tension between these two has the potential to really sizzle. The leads are both good at going all out in their acting, so this pairing seems like it could be a fireworks explosion! 😅

This is lots of fun, and more thoughtful than I expected. It has a similar vibe to Study Group, and while it is also quite funny in parts, it's less goofy and slapstick.

Entertaining while also critiquing the inefficiency (and ultimately the failure) of systems meant to protect people, the culture surrounding education of emphasizing results, grades and excellent jobs over the growth and cultivation of moral integrity in schools, the horrifying nature of some parenting practices, and the danger of jeopardizing safe spaces for young people to learn and grow if bullying and drugs are not addressed in them.

The part that was most satisfying and which I'd not seen attempted in quite this way before, was the way every bully (whether student, parent, or teacher) got a turn to experience a dose of their own medicine. A few used the lesson to grow, (most) others just grew more resentful and bitter.

If your criticism is that it's unrealistic or over-the-top...well, that's kind of the point.

The ERPB could never exist, just as a politician as good-hearted and upright as Minister Choi Jang Seok could probably never exist, but the issues they highlight are obviously on a spectrum of the real.

The question the drama is posing is: Will we actually address the root problem? Will we just put bandaids on our festering societal injuries and let the wound grow worse or will we do the painful, agonizing, image-destroying work of surgery to bring actual healing and long-term restoration?

There was this thoughtful (though not always perfect) balance of the tension between compassion/grace and punishment. All the perpetrators are given a chance at redemption (and enlightenment is offered through the Dante-like contrapasso punishment the perpetrators suffer), but not everyone takes it.

As Dante highlights, this response to punishment is the difference between Hell and Purgatory. 😉

Oh, I see. I see what you mean, but I saw her relationship with the 2ML as a "marriage of convenience"/political marriage that always more more about connections than any true attachment they really had. She also got turned off by the 2ML doing all kinds of selfish, shady things once the ML came along, which I thought was understandable.

But I'll admit, most characters in this were pretty flawed so I agree she was not completely blameless. I just enjoyed her more than the FL who got on my nerves the longer she was on my screen. I didn't like the FL (same actress as the FL here) much in Gaksital (aka Bridal Mask), either. I don't know if it was the writing or the acting, but she did not land for me in either drama.

I hope so! No, I'm still dragging my feet on WLGYTs...🫣 I just know I'm going to cry buckets and keep putting it off.

Interesting take. How so?

Yes, the actors look very similar!

I like this comparison to A Modest Proposal. Like in Swift's work, this drama is over-the-top to make a point (in a less offensive way than A Modest Proposal, though, because this show's ultimate goal is entertainment rather than satire, but hey, pretty cool if you can do both fairly well!) and I found it quite satisfying.

My issue with satire/social commentary is that those who most need to hear it usually can't see how it's about them and it resonates with the people who actually don't need to hear it. Maybe sometimes it's more helpful for people in the future than for people in the present.

Also, I don't ever want a doctor whose mom planned their whole lives out so they could be one. What kind of doctor would that be? 😱 Sounds frightening.

I liked in Episode 7 that they showed even Bong Geun Dae got sucked into the gambling app, despite how level-headed and responsible he is. We often look at those with addictions and say, "But that wouldn't be me." But in reality, it could be. I appreciated that they showed the danger of things like this in that way. It helped provide context for how dangerous these gambling guys really are.

So, that said, I don't completely agree with Na Hwa Jin's character who said that the two boys sucked into the gambling ring weren't victims. He focused on how they ruined their parents' lives, and had chances to stop, so their parents are the true victims, but this isn't necessarily just a normal habit that people can just "fix" by trying harder. Can we really say the boys had control over this situation to step away from it? I'm not sure they did. Also, these sites are designed to manipulate and drag you down into the rabbit hole (and they're also just teenagers!). So, I don't think a "you could have tried harder" message is ever an effective one for good or productive, long-term change in someone for the right reasons (just my opinion).

In Episode 6, the "juvenile offenders" don't look fourteen (they look too old), but they nailed the fourteen year old energy with the goofy facial expressions (middle schoolers have face-making down to a science) and busy hands, moving around a lot, playing off of each other, bouncing back to their douche-like ways like squished cokcroaches, etc.

Because, if a 14 year old were to act shameless and inconceiveably rude in real life, it'd look just like these boys in Episode 6. 😅 Bravo!

Ai Mi finally playing a female lead!

That was never really explained.

Interesting. I'm not sure how else they could have chosen to critique them without making it explicit (which doesn't make sense since this is fantasy). I don't think anyone watching this can be in any doubt about the experimentation, exploitation, gaslighting and manipulation in this showcasing evil very clearly.

But to each his own, for sure!

Wait, I'm confused. All these elements you listed are associated with the villains in this drama. If you're associating them with Israel, isn't this drama critiquing Israel's actions, then, not defending them, by giving them to all the perpetrators of harm? 🤔 Please explain to me how this is not a ciritique?

I blocked @mooc ages ago. 😉 First rate troll.

I don't mind it too much; most costume Cdramas (I've seen) are already so anachronistic, fantastical and clearly not historical that this kind of anachronism I can get behind if it's well-executed (I find it fun to have leads that contrast with the rest of the characters in how they interact). New Life Begins, A Dream Of Splendor, Who Rules The World, Flourished Peony/In The Name Of Blossom, A Splendid Match, The Double are all just a few of the dramas that do it well, I think.