You mean the screenwriter that hasn’t worked since 2019?
Yes, the premise of CLOY was so far-fetched, but it did have a lot of heart. My first Kdrama that got me hooked on Kdramas, so I have a special place in my heart for it.
You mean the screenwriter that hasn’t worked since 2019?
The premise for this IS quite different from the other dramas she's written (she usually starts with a seemingly hokey premise then has really good character development and plot execution) so it will be interesting to see if this sticks the landing since screenwriters shifting genres/styles from their status quo doesn't always work out.
Another point towards optimism: Kim Soo Hyun seems to pick his dramas very carefully, so the fact that he chose this project seems to go for something, too? 🤷♀️ Time will tell. :)
This seems to get a lot of hate here and on redditIs it still Worth watching? I loved S1 but don't want to ruin…
I think it's because the second season has a very different feel, mood, tone and pace from the first and people had expectations, specific expectations, for what they wanted season 2 to be. If you have any specific expectations other than a happy ending, you might be disappointed. The only thing I really wanted was a happy ending, so I was able to enjoy season 2 because I didn't expect anything in particular beyond that. :) Also, this season 2 flips their stories. In the first, UK is endearing, chattery, and cute and starts out helpless as he tries to learn his powers, while Naksu is serious, broody, intense, gutsy and aggressive. They switch roles in the second season. Also, they never revisit Naksu's fighting skills which annoyed people, but I think they still made her powerful and interesting in a different way (but I think it annoyed people because it felt more "feminine" than her personality in season 1). Again, people had expectations, and when they weren't met, they got upset. 🤷♀️ I understand why, but I personally still enjoyed it. Neither season was perfect.
New poster looks better. :) Loved Sang Min in Under The King's Umbrella and Duty After School. I'm interested to see how he'll do as an actual ML having to carry the show since he shared the limelight with the other mains in the two dramas I mentioned.
There's something about Kim Do Wan that reminds me of Christian Bale... I think it's his lips? 😅
This screenwriter is a master at creating well-written characters and threading powerful themes throughout all…
I love While You Were Sleeping (my #1 out of 140+ dramas) and I Can Hear Your Voice (in my top 5) by her. I CHYV is older so the production value is lower, but it's still very good (though it does have noona romance, as the FL is 5 or 6 years older than the ML, which isn't everyone's thing, just fyi). Both are very thematically driven like CD. The themes in ICHYV are particularly powerful, but WYWS is the superior drama overall, in my opinion. :) Definitely try them out!
This screenwriter is a master at creating well-written characters and threading powerful themes throughout all the episodes. She writes more thematically than most. :)
I really like this drama but its hard for me to believe that the real singer is Park Eun Bin 😯😯, is it not…
I think it's her voice/sound, but with some help from technology. Not necessarily autotune, but other types of editing. Very few people sound as good live (and without a backtrack) as in the studio. Live (even better: live and acapella) is a true test of a singer's ability, in my opinion.
Why there are too many 8 and 12 episodes drama these days?
Maybe they're discovering that not many 16 episode dramas stick their landing? If a 16 episode drama stands out, it will be because it makes it past the Episodes 12-14 danger zone where the writer runs out of ideas and we see the wheat separated from the chaff. 😂
If anyone is looking for an ML that feels similar to this one (they are indeed rare in Kdramaland), give When The Camellia Blooms (Kang Ha Neul, he won a Baeksang for Best Actor for this role) and Hogoo's Love (Choi Woo Sik, who is ADORABLE) a try. :)
Hi. How are you? The two dramas you mention were written by Baek Sun Woo, so the writer of Dr Slump.I liked "My…
True, Kdramas usually have boundaries on their bedroom scenes, and also use them sparingly (or not at all). And they can manage this while still creating a compelling and interesting romance. I just noticed, too, that they use these elements to their advantage to draw out the romance and build chemistry and romantic tension as the story progresses. Most western films/TV shows don't even try to hold off anymore, except maybe when it's a movie/show about high schoolers. I just think it's interesting how it creates a very different kind of feel for the development of the romance when the characters are not plunged into intimacy right away.
For me, romance is a story about the main leads getting together and being happy, but in this one (and this is…
But the 2ML was a first rate jerk (the ML was, too, but their progression is the opposite of each other: the ML starts as a jerk, the 2ML ends as one, until the last episode).
The FL eventually was unable to see the 2ML properly because his kindness from the first half of the drama made it almost impossible for her to see him as a manipulator later on. Shin could see it, even outside his jealousy, but FL felt too grateful to Yul to be able to see it. WE could see it, as viewers, so that made him lose all cred with me about halfway through.
One of the worst k-dramas I've ever seen. For so many reasons. Firstly and most importantly, this was one of the…
I actually like that older Kdramas were willing to cast actors who didn't have perfect visuals, especially when they play characters who, as part of the plot, are supposed to be "less attractive."
In dramas today, a character being "ugly" just means more acne than average (which is still a far cry from the cripplingly embarrassing amount of acne some develop), frizzy hair or imperfect skin or glasses, and no one can in actuality be short of gorgeous; and if they are not quite "gorgeous," they're tall or have a good singing voice, etc. I miss this about older Kdramas because then it was easier to believe that the ML falls in love with the FL not due to her looks, but her personality and more intangible qualities (as Shin's friend described), which is a much more substantial foundation for love.
I just feel like the trends now will continue to reinforce that you can't be beautiful or attractive UNLESS you alter the structure of your face through plastic surgery, which is not a message SK needs to hear more of... in reality some people ARE super attractive just because they have a way about them which attracts people to them and which overshadows their appearance. And it's usually because they don't fixate on their appearance and just focus on living a good life that's not constantly in comparison with others' lives. And that, ironically, makes them more attractive.
Feeling like you can be secure and proud in your looks after super reconstructive plastic surgery feels similar to feeling proud of a grade you cheated to get. Neither is really yours to claim, so neither will bring contentment but rather restlessness, as you will be endlessly afraid of exposure.
I will start off with the now controversial famous cliffhanger ending : how is she pregnant?Well, throughout the…
This is the only explanation that makes sense!
Either way, though, the ending is so out-of-pocket. 😂 I kinda didn't like that she strung him along about marrying him, though, and it feels even more random if they've been sleeping together already anyway. 🤷♀️
But I suppose he deserves to be messed with, from another perspective, since he was an awful human to her for so long.
Like Boys Over Flowers, quite problematic and toxic in some ways, but endearing in others (and overall). Quite a bit of this did NOT age well, but there were some super memorable scenes that were very well done and interesting despite being long. The main leads' chemistry was quite good; once they started understanding each other they became a believable couple, and both were, deep down, absolute dorks.😂 Would have loved more of their dating/getting along eras! It takes just a bit too long for the ML to pull out his charm for us (e.g. SO much arm-grabbing in this! 🙄), but at least we have more episodes of him being nice and cute with the FL after he does so, unlike Secret Garden where the ML is literally a jerk until the second or third to last episode. 😖
After watching old romance dramas (Goong, Secret Garden, Boys Over Flowers, The King2Hearts, etc ), I've got to hand it to the writers for turning extremely unlikable MLs into characters I can root for over the course of the series (if you make it far enough without dropping to see the arc completed, haha), but despite some of the nostalgia associated with these old dramas, I'm glad overall that we've moved on from these toxic portrayals of relationships in newer Kdramas.
This drama will not suit everyone's taste, but if you made it through the list of dramas I just mentioned above and had a decently good time, most likely you'll enjoy this one despite its flaws.
There is something cozy about old Kdramas that is not captured in newer dramas (maybe it's partly the music? The early 2000s Kdrama OSTs were certainly an era that began to change in the mid to late 2010's), and this drama has that cozy quality to it. Somehow the guys' hair doesn't bother me as much as BOFs, despite this being three years older and the styling feeling super dated in general. I rewatched this recently (and more carefully with less skipping; the adults are mostly boring!) and gave it a higher rating on my second watch, believe it or not!
P.S. If you get to the last few minutes of the last episode and think, "What the heck?" then check out @nfabjoy's spoilered comment below. She has a great theory that I found a satisfying explanation.
I found the romance and chemistry in While You Were Sleeping much better than Start-Up; try that one; if you liked True Beauty and Castaway Diva, you'll probably like it!
Another point towards optimism: Kim Soo Hyun seems to pick his dramas very carefully, so the fact that he chose this project seems to go for something, too? 🤷♀️ Time will tell. :)
There's something about Kim Do Wan that reminds me of Christian Bale... I think it's his lips? 😅
The FL eventually was unable to see the 2ML properly because his kindness from the first half of the drama made it almost impossible for her to see him as a manipulator later on. Shin could see it, even outside his jealousy, but FL felt too grateful to Yul to be able to see it. WE could see it, as viewers, so that made him lose all cred with me about halfway through.
In dramas today, a character being "ugly" just means more acne than average (which is still a far cry from the cripplingly embarrassing amount of acne some develop), frizzy hair or imperfect skin or glasses, and no one can in actuality be short of gorgeous; and if they are not quite "gorgeous," they're tall or have a good singing voice, etc. I miss this about older Kdramas because then it was easier to believe that the ML falls in love with the FL not due to her looks, but her personality and more intangible qualities (as Shin's friend described), which is a much more substantial foundation for love.
I just feel like the trends now will continue to reinforce that you can't be beautiful or attractive UNLESS you alter the structure of your face through plastic surgery, which is not a message SK needs to hear more of... in reality some people ARE super attractive just because they have a way about them which attracts people to them and which overshadows their appearance. And it's usually because they don't fixate on their appearance and just focus on living a good life that's not constantly in comparison with others' lives. And that, ironically, makes them more attractive.
Feeling like you can be secure and proud in your looks after super reconstructive plastic surgery feels similar to feeling proud of a grade you cheated to get. Neither is really yours to claim, so neither will bring contentment but rather restlessness, as you will be endlessly afraid of exposure.
Either way, though, the ending is so out-of-pocket. 😂 I kinda didn't like that she strung him along about marrying him, though, and it feels even more random if they've been sleeping together already anyway. 🤷♀️
But I suppose he deserves to be messed with, from another perspective, since he was an awful human to her for so long.
After watching old romance dramas (Goong, Secret Garden, Boys Over Flowers, The King2Hearts, etc ), I've got to hand it to the writers for turning extremely unlikable MLs into characters I can root for over the course of the series (if you make it far enough without dropping to see the arc completed, haha), but despite some of the nostalgia associated with these old dramas, I'm glad overall that we've moved on from these toxic portrayals of relationships in newer Kdramas.
This drama will not suit everyone's taste, but if you made it through the list of dramas I just mentioned above and had a decently good time, most likely you'll enjoy this one despite its flaws.
There is something cozy about old Kdramas that is not captured in newer dramas (maybe it's partly the music? The early 2000s Kdrama OSTs were certainly an era that began to change in the mid to late 2010's), and this drama has that cozy quality to it. Somehow the guys' hair doesn't bother me as much as BOFs, despite this being three years older and the styling feeling super dated in general. I rewatched this recently (and more carefully with less skipping; the adults are mostly boring!) and gave it a higher rating on my second watch, believe it or not!
P.S. If you get to the last few minutes of the last episode and think, "What the heck?" then check out @nfabjoy's spoilered comment below. She has a great theory that I found a satisfying explanation.
I found the romance and chemistry in While You Were Sleeping much better than Start-Up; try that one; if you liked True Beauty and Castaway Diva, you'll probably like it!